Officials of the Sefwi Akontombra District Assembly in the Western Region have failed to justify why they have not been able to retrieve an amount of GHc 88,000 belonging to the Assembly.
According to the 2015 Auditor General’s Report, a former coordinating Director of the Assembly, Patrick Aparik, and his finance officer, Emmanuel Owusu Ansah, lodged the said amount from stool lands revenue into a private account in 2014.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) sittings in Takoradi, the District Finance Officer of the Assembly, Sylvester Adiku, said the matter was being handled by the police as a theft case.
“The matter has been reported to the police. Initially, it was the BNI which started investigations on it, but when we took over, we were told that the matter was also with the police. So we went to the police to find out if it is true and the commander confirmed,” he said.
The Finance Officer at that time said that in the course of the investigations, he told the investigative bodies involved that the monies involved were used for assembly purposes and that he was advised to get the necessary documentation to cover the amount spent.
“At the meeting, he said he had prepared those documents and handed them over to his successor. At that point that he asked his successor to bring the documents, but we are yet to get those documents from the successor,” Sylvester Adiku narrated.
Financial mismanagement from MMDAs
In February 2018, various state institutions incurred the wrath of the Committee for blatantly flouting the country’s financial regulations.
Members of the PAC raised serious concerns about the continuous mismanagement of resources disbursed to state institutions particularly the Regional Coordinating Councils, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
The PAC, is chaired by Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzie, and members of the committee raised the concern at a sitting in Tamale when they were reviewing the Auditor General’s 2015/2016 report of public institutions.
Recently it has emerged that the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) has initiated investigations into circumstances that led to the GHS80,000 funeral expenditure on the late Gomoa East District Chief Executive, Isaac Kinglsey Ehun-Armah.
A few officials of the Assembly, under whose tenure the expenditure occurred, have already been questioned by EOCO.
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By: Duke Mensah Opoku/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
