The Committee for Joint Action (CJA), a political pressure group, has called on the government to get tough on corruption following a review of the latest internal audit report of Tema Shipyard Limited (PSC). According to the CJA, the report paints a damning picture of PSC, a company in which the government owns 30 per cent shares. Amongst numerous unfavourable revelations are findings of frequent irregular payments and purchases, non-compliance with procurement rules, misapplication of funds, financial fraud, and the absence of an assets register. Convener of the CJA, Mr Kwesi Adu, said he felt that it was their duty to inform all Ghanaians of corrupt dealings in which the government has a stake. Mr Adu stated that revelations in the report, which include incorrect tender processes and the siphoning of company funds into private pockets through contracts with smoke-screen companies, were an example of "wanton mismanagement and corruption." Mr Adu lamented that the recent and continuing conduct of PSC has resulted in a company which is struggling to survive, largely due to massive losses of revenue, and from which the government is unlikely to yield any profitable dividends. As such, the CJA is calling on the government to launch a thorough investigation into PSC's financial dealings in order to reverse the effects of corruption and mismanagement, and to identify and punish those responsible for underhanded dealings "It is not enough to sit by as people in charge of state resources plunder it and get away with lenient sanctions. We expect the government to take a much tougher stance on the issue of corruption," said Mr Adu. Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr. also of the CJA, stressed the fundamental importance of government action in relation to corruption and stated that the trend of doing nothing, despite the growing pile of damning official reports, has to stop. When the Times questioned what the government is doing to fight corruption, Mr Pratt alluded to institutional challenges, such as a lack of resources in key bodies such as the Human Rights Commission, as well as a general reluctance to punish those in positions of power. Mr Pratt emphasised that it was the government's duty to spend the required amount of money, whatever that may be, in order to create sufficient resources to stem the flow of corruption and maladministration of state funds. Source: Ghanaian Times