Senior lecturer and political analyst Dr Jebuntie Zaato has questioned why President John Dramani Mahama has not ordered an independent private audit of the money spent evacuating Ghanaians from South Africa.
The call comes as the Minority in Parliament demands accountability over the exercise and raises concerns about how evacuees, payments and supporting documents were accounted for.
Dr Zaato said using the Auditor-General to conduct the investigation could lead critics, particularly the Minority, to question whether the process was truly independent.
Speaking on TV3 New Day’s The Big Issue on Wednesday, October 28, he suggested that the President should instead appoint a private auditing firm to examine the expenditure.
“If I appoint the Auditor-General and I bring the Auditor-General to investigate or audit something so important to the Minority, then they may say it is a cabal,” Dr Zaato said.
He challenged President Mahama to act quickly and demonstrate what he described as the “high moral ground” by responding directly to the Minority’s concerns.
“Why is the President dragging his feet? Why is the President not saying that, okay, I will rise to the high moral ground and match Akufo-Addo and say precisely because the Minority is talking about this thing, I will immediately invite a private audit firm to audit these things and put all these to rest,” he asked.
Dr Zaato referred to two cases from the administration of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in which independent firms were brought in to examine allegations of corruption or corruption-related offences.
He cited the controversy surrounding the National Cathedral and the SML deal, saying KPMG and Deloitte were engaged to conduct audits into the matters.
On that basis, Dr Zaato urged President Mahama to follow what he described as a similar example set by his predecessor.
“His Excellency President promised to be better when it comes to managing the natural resource. He promised in his code of conduct to fight corruption, alleged corruptions and peoples who actions or inactions lead to the loss of state money.
“Mr. President you can copy and learn from Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. In fact, you should copy and learn from Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. When such things were made, he commissioned an independent private firm to audit,” Zaato stated.
The evacuation followed xenophobic attacks in South Africa and has since become the subject of political controversy.
The Minority has called for an independent audit, pointing to alleged inconsistencies in records relating to the number of evacuees, payments made and the documentation supporting the expenditure.
It has also called for the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Dr Zaato’s intervention adds to pressure for an independent review aimed at establishing how public funds were used and addressing the concerns surrounding the evacuation exercise.
