Chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee and Atiwa East MP Abena Osei-Asare has called for concrete action on audit findings, saying public institutions must correct weaknesses, recover lost resources and sanction breaches where necessary.
She said audits should not merely identify problems or expose officials but should lead to improvements in systems and procedures.
“Audits must lead to certain actions that correct systems, correct procedures and make things better. That is all the audit is about. It is not to vilify anybody,” Osei-Asare said.
She made the remarks during an engagement with officials in the petroleum sector, where she explained the importance of following up on issues identified through audits.
According to her, institutions must take responsibility for inherited problems instead of using the circumstances under which they assumed office as a reason for failing to act.
“I wasn’t there. I came to meet this. It doesn’t matter what you came to meet. What have you done about it?” she said.
Osei-Asare said the response to audit findings should depend on the nature of the issues identified, with institutions expected to recover resources where possible and strengthen procedures to prevent similar problems.
“Where we find that we can recover certain things, we recover. Where we need to strengthen systems, we do that,” she said.
She added that cases involving clear breaches must attract sanctions, stressing that accountability requires more than explanations from officials.
“And where obviously there are breaches, sanctions must be carried out,” she said.
Osei-Asare said the committee’s engagement with officials was intended to help members understand the operations of the institutions they scrutinise, enabling them to ask informed questions and assess the responses provided.
