Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has urged public officials to account for every cedi entrusted to them and strengthen financial management systems to make the recovery of public funds an exception rather than an annual ritual.
He made the call during an engagement on the Auditor-General’s Report attended by regional ministers and metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs).
Ato Forson said public officials were custodians, not owners, of the nation’s resources and had a responsibility to manage them in the interest of citizens.
“Public money does not belong to government officials; we are only the custodians of those resources,” he said, adding that the funds belonged to the people of Ghana.
He urged officials to pursue the recovery of all recoverable public funds and account for every cedi placed in their care.
“Let us recover every cedi that is recoverable. Let us account for every cedi that is entrusted to us as public officials,” he said.
Ato Forson stressed, however, that accountability should extend beyond recovering lost funds to strengthening the systems intended to safeguard public resources.
“Let us build systems where recovery becomes the exception, not an annual ritual,” he said.
