Seth Terkpher
Minister of Finance-designate Seth Terkper has vowed to work hard to keep the nation’s borrowing within sustainable limits in order to protect taxpayer money.
He said that the Budget and Accounting System, a new mechanism that will harmonize all government transactions, has been instituted to eliminate the duplication of payments in government institutions. Mr. Terkper gave the assurance while answering questions during his vetting in Parliament on Thursday, where he pledged to oversee the strengthening of contract tendering processes in an effort to reduce loopholes in the laws regulating the awarding of contracts. He added that the ministry will keep track of all work done on government contracts and of all the money paid for that work in order to guarantee the proper evaluation of such contracts and prevent government from overcompensating contractors. The Minister-designate declared that, “as a ministry, we will work with the Attorney General’s Department and strengthen the legal department of the Ministry of Finance as well as the MMDA’s to ensure that contracts that underlie these works protect the state.” “We shall also conduct the necessary audits to ensure that judgment debts [do] not bother the Ghanaian population as it is now.”