President JEA Mills has directed that the salaries and emoluments of persons who fail to adequately and satisfactorily answer queries of the Auditor-General regarding financial impropriety be withheld. The president said he has concerned about reports from the Auditor-General of lack of co-operation by some government departments. The Auditor-General in his 2009 report said, "The irregularities have been recurring and they run through my report annually – a situation which I continue to find very disturbing.” “Finding lasting solutions to the problems can save the nation millions of Ghana cedis, improve service delivery, tax payers and strengthen public confidence and trust in the accountability processes,” he added. And president Mills agreed, directing that the provisions of Act 584 on the withholding of salaries and other emoluments and privileges to persons people who violate financial regulations be withheld. Delivering his third State of the Nation Address dubbed: "Raising Ghana to the next level" to Parliament Thursday, President Mills assured that his government will continue to cooperate with civil society and anti-corruption agencies, to continue to wage a concerted war against corruption. As a way of strengthening institutions of state for the fight against corruption and provide the needed teeth to bite, President Mills announced that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), now Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO)has been re-engineered and given prosecutorial powers. “About a fortnight ago, Ghanaians watched a shocking expose of corrupt activities and practices involving revenue collection at the Tema Port. Last year, there was a similar expose on cocoa smuggling along the country’s borders” he recalled. President Mills therefore urged the Ghana Revenue Authority to relentlessly pursue people who fail to declare, or, under-declare incomes simply to avoid paying taxes because the principle of equity demands that the burden of tax should be shared among all citizens. “I also expect the management of the Ghana Revenue Authority and Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS) for that matter to act without delay to restore public confidence in the organization”, President Mills said. President Mills also said he expects the Ghana Standards Board and the Food and Drugs Board to collaborate to stop the dumping of sub-standard goods on the Ghanaian market. Story: Jerry Tsatro Mordy/Asempa FM