Limit set for public officials expenditure

0

Parliament

According to him, it will serve as deterrent because ?if you do not impose severe punishments then you will not achieve the deterrent objective.?

The2013 Appropriation bill which gives a final authority to government in relation to how much government can spend within the 2013 fiscal year, was passed in parliament on Wednesday to a tune of GHC 31,845,664,819.

Speaking on Citi FM?s Eye Witness news program William Ofori Boafo stated ?the offence I sought to create is that any person who makes delay payments in excess of the limits provided by the Appropriation Act commits an offence.?

According to him, the punishment would be upon conviction, of not less than 15000 penalty units or an alternative of 15 years or not more than 25 years jail term.

He explained that, under clause 3 of the Appropriation Bill the Controller and Accountant General is prohibited from making payments out in excess of the appropriated amount for the year 2013.

He added that due to the vacuum in the Act he thought it was relevant to correct that vacuum by seeking a legislative instrument so that in an attempt to exceed the limit the people involved are punished.

He noted that the main reason why it is being opposed by the Majority in Parliament is because if it is provided under the Appropriation Bill ?there will be frequency of repeals.?

He questioned, if there is the frequency of coming back yearly with the Appropriation Bills why can?t there be ?the frequency of sanctions to ensure that the provisions of the Bill are respected to the latter.?

Meanwhile the Former MP of Wenchi West and General Secretary for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has stated that the Appropriation Bill might not be a good place to place such punishments.

?Overexpenditure is not good for the health of any economy because it means that you are spending more than you can generate? he said.

He also expressed joy that ?parliament had finally agreed to do something about their oversight responsibilities.?

According to him, he we are still a developing democracy and the issues of accountability are always developing.
?As we develop we have now come to a point where sittings of Public Accounts Committee and all other accountability committees in parliament are held before the media? he said.

He proposed that government should find a way of checking over spending when people are still in power.

Source Citi News Ghana

Send your news stories to [email protected] Follow News Ghana on Google News

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here