The arrested officials in handcuff
The former District Finance Officer for Sefwi Akontombra in the Western North Region, Isaac Akowuah, and the current District Finance Officer of the same district, James Essilfie, were arrested yesterday by the parliament police upon the strict orders of the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when they appeared before the committee.
The Chairman of the committee, James Klutse Avedzi, directed officers of the Parliamentary Protection Unit to arrest the two officers after they had presented nine payment vouchers which did not tally with those that were already before the committee.
Officials of the Sefwi Akontombra District Assembly appeared before the committee last Wednesday led by the District Chief Executive, Amoah Yawson, when the committee started sitting to look into queries on the use of the District Assemblies Common Fund by the Auditor-General in 2015 and 2016, but they could not provide 62 payment vouchers to support purchases made by the assembly amounting to GH¢126,000.
The officials were asked to go and look for those vouchers and present them to the committee yesterday but when the two district finance officers who were directly involved in the payment and receipt of the vouchers appeared, they were able to provide only nine payment vouchers amounting to GH¢120,000 out of the 62 vouchers.
When members of the committee took time to scrutinize those vouchers, they realized that the vouchers did not tally with those that had been given to the PAC members by the Office of the Auditor-General.
The chairman, therefore, ordered the police to immediately arrest them for telling lies to the committee and also engaging in acts that amounted to criminal offence before the committee.
The chairman said they were being arrested to serve as a deterrent to other officials who would come before the committee and lie because they swear oaths to tell the committee the sacrosanct truth.
The PAC has the powers of a High Court and can, therefore, issue arrest orders.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr