Special Prosecutor Lauded for Decision to Prosecute Payroll Fraud

By Abigail Annoh

A Senior Visiting Fellow from the Manchester Business School, Professor Pikay Richardson has lauded the decision of the Special Prosecutor, Mr Martin Amidu to investigate acts of misappropriation on the public payroll.

He however charged Mr Amidu not to hesitate in prosecuting persons found culpable of defrauding the country as a means to check corruption.

"Amidu and his team must put people in prison. It is important that we guard this system that has been put in place to check corruption. He must ensure that if someone has stolen, the money was returned. We strip them of whatever has been taken and jail them," he said.

Prof. Richardson was speaking in an interview with the Ghanaian Times on the sidelines of a leadership and corporate governance workshop for staff of the New Times Corporation (NTC).

The meeting was to build the capacity of workers to positively contribute to the growth and transformation of the Corporation.

The Business Professor who decried the kids gloves often used in dealing with corruption in the country said, until stricter sanctions were held out to serve as deterrent, "people will continue to do wrong."

"In this country, we have laws but we do not use it to check crime. We even subvert it sometimes so it has become a free for all place. People steal money and they are just fired from office to go and enjoy the money they have taken. People will continue to do wrong if there are no proper sanctions," he insisted.

Citing many state companies that had grinded to a halt in the country as a result of lack of accountability and transparency on the part of leadership, Prof. Richardson urged government to put strict monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure that the goals of its policies and programmes were achieved.

"Government should be interested in making sure it appoints competent people who will put their shoulders to the wheel and can be taken to task while ensuring strict monitoring to get regular reports from the various departments and agencies to achieve its vision," he advised.

Addressing the workshop, Prof. Richardson urged the Corporation to strive to be viable in the midst of stiff media competition by "thinking outside the box" to guarantee its future.

"Customer satisfaction is key to stay in business as you endeavour to motivate workers to give off their best for the success of the company," he stated.

The Professor further entreated management to "set the right example" while calling on workers to have a positive attitude and work hard to make the NTC a first class institution.

The Managing Director of the NTC, Ms Carol Anang said the workshop was a vehicle to rally workers to give off their best to turn round the fortunes of the company.

She entreated them to put the knowledge acquired into practice as the corporation embarks on a path of transformation.

Mr David Agbenu, the Editor of the Ghanaian Times on his part lauded the opportunity given to workers to build their leadership skills asking that workers "carry on from here to change our situation for better."

Read Full Story