Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has been accused of paying a total of GH¢1,112,895.96 as salaries to three persons who cannot be traced at the ministry.
The Auditor-General (A-G), who revealed this in his latest report on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), said the trio’s names and personal files were not found on the nominal roll of the ministry.
The report disclosed that Allotey Eamon James with staff ID TAMF1902 was paid a total of GH¢206,433 for 12 months, while Kwakye Nana Yaw Asiedu with staff ID TAMF1906 was paid GH¢535,738.80, and Adam Habibu with staff ID TAMF0016 was also paid GH¢370,724.16 for 24 months.
“We recommended that the amount of GH¢1,112,895.96 should be recovered from the Chief Director and the payroll validators of MoF,” the A-G report indicated, referencing Regulation 86 of the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I.2378).
Uncompetitive Procurement
The report also said the auditors noted that management in 15 instances handpicked service providers to provide accommodation with conference facilities costing GH¢2,318,823.29 without subjecting the transactions to any prescribed procurement procedures.
According to the report, the transactions were not contained in the procurement plan of the ministry for the 2021 financial year, and stated that Section 18 of the Public Procurement Act, 2016 (Act 914) states that the head of a procurement entity shall ensure that provisions in the Public Procurement Act are complied with, and each stage of the procurement activity and procedures prescribed are followed.
“We recommended that the Chief Director should investigate the cause of the procurement infractions and officers found culpable should be appropriately sanctioned,” the auditors demanded.
Sefwi Wiawso
Meanwhile, the audit report has indicated that some unsubstantiated payments amounting to GH¢71,107.00 174 were made by the Sefwi Wiawso Tax Office, contrary to Regulation 78 of the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378) that requires a Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity to be personally responsible for ensuring in respect of each payment of that covered entity the validity, accuracy and legality of the claim for the payment and the evidence of services received, certificate for work done and any other supporting documents exist.
“We noted that management of the Sefwi Wiawso Tax Office made 56 payments totalling GH¢71,107.00 without relevant supporting documents to authenticate the payments,” it emphasised.
The report recommended that in the absence of relevant supporting documents, the District Manager should recover the outstanding amount from the officers involved, failing which the District Manager and the Accountant should refund the amount.
By Ernest Kofi Adu