The
Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo has expressed disappointment in public
servants who use their office to encourage corruption and abuse of power.
“It is distressing that officials with high
educational qualification, skills and knowledge are increasingly becoming
unuseful to society because they have refused to use their acquired knowledge
and skills to work towards the nation’s growth and development.
“All we do with our knowledge and skills is to
suppress and deny our people what they are entitled to, unfortunately, a call
to a public office is a call to serve the public interest and not to loot
public resources,” Mr Domelevo cautioned.
Speaking at
the sixth International Institute of Certified Forensic Investigation
Professionals (IICFIP), Global Forensic Conference in Accra, he stressed that
“unfortunately the people who are highly educated, skilful and knowledgeable in
society but whose education, skills and knowledge is useless because it doesn’t
help society.
The conference was held on the theme:
‘Harnessing Forensic Investigation Skills and Tools for Effective Skills and
Tools for Fight against White Color Crimes’, however, the Auditor-General
indicated that “transparency, probity and accountability are key and
anyone who chooses to hold any public office or in a position of trust must
stand ready to be transparent, probity and accountable for his or her
stewardship.”
Mr Domelevo reminded the participants of the
constitutional principles of State Policy, particularly a principle under
Article 35/8 of the 1992 Constitution which says, “the state shall take steps
to eradicate corrupt practices and abuse of power” and advised Africans to
uphold the principles for the growth and development of respective countries as
an appointment into public office should be handled seriously.
Dr Rama Subramaniam, the Chairman of IICFIP
observed that white-collar crime had become a challenge in Africa and impact of
knowledge and skills was relevant to harness forensic investigation tools for
effective and efficient fight.
Bismark
Allegra, the Country Director of IIFCIP, appealed to African governments to
equip forensic investigators with the tools needed to carry out their work
efficiently and effectively and urged colleague auditors to be forthcoming and
help reduce the corruption canker. -myjoyonline.com