By Sumaiya Salifu Saeed/ Samuel Akumatey, GNA
Ho, May 31, GNA - Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called on accountants to help fight corruption in the country.
He said it is their responsibility to “protect the public purse with integrity and transparency” towards building a transparent and accountable economy.
The Vice-President said this in a speech read on his behalf at the 2017 Annual Accountants’ Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG) held under the theme: “Transformation of Ghana’s economy @ 60”.
Dr Bawumia said chartered accountants play active roles in the decision making process of organizations and urged them to be “catalysts of positive influence who must eschew acts that hurt our public finance management objectives and arrangements.”
“Transforming Ghana’s economy requires the collective efforts of professional accountants who must not be silent but rather voice out any acts of financial impropriety perpetrated by public office holders,” he said.
Dr Bawumia commended the Institute for adopting and implementing the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) as the basis for preparing and presenting financial statements of public accounts in the country, adding that this was helping government allocate resources effectively.
Mr Benjamin Kpodo, Member of Parliament for Ho Central, said the accounting profession is confronted with issues of “image maintenance” and asked them work towards reflecting “integrity and accountability.”
He appealed to government to ensure that only qualified and well trained accountants are appointed to head finance departments in the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) as well as educational institutions to curb corruption.
He said Senior High Schools, in view of the proposed free education policy, needed chartered accountants as a matter of urgency to manage funds to be allocated under the policy.
Mr Christian Sottie, ICAG President, described the “galamsey” menace facing the country as an act of corruption and appealed to the citizenry to heed the President’s call to end the practice.
GNA
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