Dishonest Auditor General must resign – Osei Kwame Prempeh

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Osei Kwame Prempeh The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Subsidiary Legislation has accused the Auditor General, Richard Q. Quartey, of denigrating his office and must therefore, resign. Osei Kwame Prempeh said the conduct of Mr. Quartey in the ongoing Woyome saga is reprehensible and must be forced to resign if he fails to do so honorably. Mr. Quartey had early on submitted the 2010 Audit report to Parliament, in which it stated that government had paid an amount of ¢58 million in judgement debt to Alfred Woyome. The Auditor General indicated on page 49 of the report that on June 4, 2010, Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome was paid GH¢41,811,480,59 as judgement debt arising out of the rehabilitation of three stadia. The Auditor General (A-G) indicated on page 51 of the same document that Mr. Agbesi Woyome was again paid GH¢17,094,493.54 on September 22, 2010, bringing the total payment to GH¢58,905,973. His disclosure provoked a heated partisan controversy. Last week however, the A-G again presented an amended copy of the same report claiming to have made a mistake with the first report he submitted to Parliament. In the amended report, Mr Quartey explained that the first payment on June 4, 2011, did not happen and that only the payment in September was done in the year 2010. But his explanation has been rejected by the opposition in Parliament. Mr Osei Prempeh said the amended report by the A-G does not even tally with the sequence of events in terms of payments made to Woyome. He contended that Mr. Quartey is under “duress” and engaging in “damage control” for the government. “He has undermined the integrity of his office” he said, adding Parliament will not take him serious if he brings another report. He said they will put pressure on him if it means going to court, demonstrating or forcing him out of office.