The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, has ordered a probe into the financial accounts of the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA) following allegations of financial impropriety made against its mismanagement. The Auditor-General, who is to conduct the audit, will establish the veracity of claims made by some members of COSGA regarding financial impropriety and corruption against the management. Mr Ghartey, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in Accra, noted that Regulation 16 of the COSGA Law (1992) provided for an annual auditing of accounts by the Auditor-General. He, however, added that the law establishing the society had been repealed and, therefore, questioned the legal status of that organisation, saying it was "doubt-fur'. He said accusations and counter accusations of corruption had been levelled against the executive of COSGA by its members and the decision to audit that organisation would restore some financial confidence in the already divided body. "The allegations made against the organisation will be put to rest after the audit team concludes its work and makes its findings available," Mr Ghartey said. The Attorney-General stressed that the government was committed to its relentless war against corruption and noted that any allegation of corruption levelled against any organisation under his ministry would be swiftly investigated to establish the truth or otherwise of that allegation. He stated that the activities of COSGA, since its establishment in 1992, had not been audited and that the move to do so now would, in the final analysis, bring sanity into that organisation if the allegations made against the management turned out to be true. The probe will also establish whether the COSGA Board is ensuring that the conditions attached to the grant of compulsory payment of licences under sections 21 and 24 of the Copyright Law, 1985 (PNDC Law 110) were complied with as captured in the regulations of COSGA. According to Mr Ghartey, the probe would also establish whether the COSGA Board complied with its regulations which, among others things, stated that there shall be a General Assembly of COSGA which shall consist of all registered members of the organisation with the mandate to determine the qualification for membership of the organisation, receive and approve yearly reports of activities of the organisation and its audited accounts. Source: Daily Graphic