The 2018 Auditor-General’s (AG) report has cited 15 Assemblies in the Western and Western North Regions respectively for disbursing a total of GH¢1,870,842.91 from various accounts including the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) with unsupported payment vouchers.
According to the report, the 15 assemblies disbursed GH¢1, 870,842.91 on goods and services, but failed to substantiate the payments with supporting documents such as receipts, invoices, and programme reports.
Regulations 39 of the Financial Administration Regulation (FAR) 2004, LI1802 of the 2018 Auditor-General’s (AG) required that heads of accounts sections of the department shall control the disbursement of funds and ensure that transactions are properly authenticated to show that amounts are due and payable.
However, the report suggested that “Poor supervision on the part of Coordinating Directors and Finance Officers to ensure that these relevant documents were obtained before payments were made accounted for the lapses’’.
‘’These cast doubts over the judicious use of funds as they could lead to misappropriation and misapplication of public funds”.
“We recommend that the respective Coordinating Directors and Finance Officers should refund the amount involved,” the AG stated.
-BY Daniel Bampoe