The Amenfi East Municipality in the Western Region has been referred to the Attorney General for prosecution over uncompetitive and other procurement breaches amounting to over GHc167,000.
The referral was made by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament at its second day sitting in Takoradi in the Western Region.
The Municipal Chief Executive of Amenfi East, Frederick Korankye failed to justify their uncompetitive tendering for the supply of streetlights from the MP’s Common Fund and inability to provide a distribution list for procured cement and iron rods.
Speaking to Citi News after facing the Public Accounts Committee, he said they would clear themselves before the Attorney General.
“We were cited for more than 20 procurement infractions, but we’ve been able to clear all of them except two of them, which have been referred to the Attorney General for action. Two of the infractions are procurement breaches, with one being a supply of street lights to the various communities from the MPs Common Fund. So that one, we were cited for uncompetitive tender, but management insists that we went through competitive tendering so when we go to the Attorney General, we have the opportunity to provide the other competitors who bided for the supply and who could not win.”
“We have the opportunity to give that as evidence. The other one was also the procurement of iron rods and cement to some communities. That one when it gets to the Attorney General too, I think we have to provide the distribution list to the communities. Once we are able to get that, I think we will be cleared. It is not anything serious. I think the uncompetitive tender was about GH¢70,000, but we have supported some of the documents to the tune of GH¢40,000, and we still have about GH¢30,000 outstanding. The other one was GH¢124,000 to procure cement and other things. So the amount in total is about GH¢167,000 in question now”, he said.
Meanwhile, a member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, representing the South Dayi constituency, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamakpor, told Citi News there should be criminal prosecution of implicated public officials beyond the surcharges.
“In addition to surcharging, I think that there must also be criminal prosecution as a form of punitive measure, as either by a fine or custodial sentence or both. If we don’t do it like that, then it becomes easy for everybody to take public money, and then when you are found out, then you are asked to return it. Because surcharge simply means you have to refund the money.”
“So if I take GH¢100 million of public money, and they ask me to return it after three years, I must have gone to trade with the money and earned some unjust benefit from that money. So the public prosecution of these persons by the office of the Auditor General is one final step in the jigsaw that we need to be able to seal the leakages in the public system”, he said.