The Handling of Taxpayers\u27 Money: African Examples

The emerging fragile democracies of Africa are grappling to meet such imperatives of good governance as integrity, transparency, openness, and accountability. Perhaps nowhere in the conduct of the public’s business are they more necessary than in accounting for the use of resources to check fraud, abuse, and waste. This essay summarizes reports of auditors general in some African countries, providing comparative insight into how and in what areas these offenses occur. The author hopes that such knowledge will lead African public servants to a better appreciation of what, in a sense, constitutes the Achilles’ heel in their countries’ public administration systems. Such understanding should form the basis of reflection on what has to be done in the search for probity, accountability, and transparency in the use of public resources by the managers and executives