The Auditor-General has recommended that the District Coordinating Director and the Finance Officer of the Sekyere Kumawu District Assembly restitute GH¢335,000 to the Assembly’s account.

These officers are reported to have spent the funds without proper documentation.

According to Section 52 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), a Principal Spending Officer must maintain adequate records of government property.

They are accountable for government property only if records indicate that the resources were consumed in the course of public business.

Contrary to this provision, the management of the Sekyere Kumawu District Assembly purchased fuel amounting to GH¢335,000 for activities related to the District Road Improvement Project (DRIP) but failed to document these expenditures in vehicle logbooks or provide an itinerary of the work done to justify the fuel purchases.

The management was also unable to provide any explanation for this oversight.

As a result, the Auditor-General could not confirm that the fuel purchased was used for the Assembly’s interests and has recommended that both the Coordinating Director and the Finance Officer refund the amount.

“We therefore recommended that the Coordinating Director and the Finance Officer involved should refund the total amount of GH¢335,000.00 into the Assembly account,” the A-G’s report intimated.

Four District and Municipal Assemblies in the Ashanti Region have spent GH¢231,412.97 on contractors for non-existent projects, according to the 2024 Auditor-General’s (A-G) report.

The Assemblies involved include Atwima Nwabiagya, Mampong, Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipalities, and the Sekyere Central District.

At the Atwima Nwabiagya Municipal Assembly, management awarded a contract to construct 24 unit stalls with ancillary facilities at Toase to Messrs. Cross ‘N’ Crown Engineering for a sum of GH¢999,576.02.

The contract was awarded on August 9, 2023, with an expected completion date of August 3, 2024.

However, in violation of Regulation 80 of the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378), an amount of GH¢142,018.00 was paid to M/S Cross ‘N’ Crown Engineering for certificate No. 4, despite no work being done.

The payment was intended to cover issues such as the installation of window frames, locks, burglar-proof mesh, and various types of glass louver blades, among others.

In related matters, three Assemblies paid a total of GH¢89,394.97 to six contractors for unexecuted portions of five projects.

– In Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipal Assembly, GH¢23,350.00 was paid to 3M Construction Ltd for the construction of a 12-seater water closet toilet with a mechanized borehole at Anyinasu; however, no provision was made for a 5000-litre poly tank, wall tiles, or a toilet roll handle.  

– At the Mampong Municipal Assembly, Messes Intermove Company Ltd were awarded a contract for a septic tank and borehole mechanization, but after receiving GH¢13,455.00, essential parts like pipe works and the installation of a 4500-litre water tank were not completed.

Another contract for water mechanization and tank erection at Mprim was awarded to Messes. RIF-Connac Ltd, but the water tank elevation was not completed despite a payment of GH¢30,836.50.

– For the Sekyere Central District, payments were made for the completion of two projects, yet some works remain unexecuted.

For instance, the construction of a three-unit classroom block with an office, store, and six-seater KVIP toilet at Adutwan by Klean Metro Company Limited did not include the provision of concrete aprons, a poly tank, or connection to the national grid, despite a payment of GH¢14,929.12.

Similarly, at Birem, construction of another three-unit classroom block with similar facilities by Alhaji Ahamed Enterprise lacked provisions for a poly tank and connection to the national grid, despite receiving GH¢6,824.35.

According to the Auditor-General, payments made for work that was not completed represent a loss of funds to the Assemblies.

The A-G therefore recommended that, the management of the Assemblies involved ensure that contractors return to the sites to complete the unexecuted works at no additional cost. Otherwise, the amounts paid should be recovered from the contractors.

If this does not happen, the Coordinating Directors, Works Engineers, and Finance Officers responsible should be jointly held liable for refunding the payments made.

Two officers at the Old Tafo Municipal Assembly, including the Municipal Coordinating Director and the Finance Officer, are still walking freely after the Auditor-General failed to issue a disallowance and surcharge certificate against them.

The 2024 Auditor-General’s report revealed that at least GH¢58,126.21 has not been properly accounted for at the Old Tafo Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region.

According to the findings, the payment vouchers lacked the necessary supporting documents such as receipts, invoices, statements of claims, and other relevant documentation for verification.

These infractions took place between April and September 2024.

The report details four payment vouchers that were processed without documentation, including:

• A payment of GH¢29,126.21 for furniture supplied to the Police Command by Geoservice EPC Ltd.
• A payment of GH¢1,500.00 for uploading data on infrastructure projects into the government performance tracker, made to the Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD).
• A payment of GH¢2,500.00 for expenses incurred in data collection and uploading information regarding Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) household and institutional toilet facilities into the government performance tracker, also to the MCD.
• A contribution of GH¢25,000.00 towards monitoring and supervision of teaching and learning in schools, again to the MCD.

These actions constitute a clear violation of Regulation 78 of the Public Financial Management Regulations (PFMR), 2019 (L.I. 2378), which stipulates that the Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity is personally responsible for ensuring the validity, accuracy, and legality of each payment, as well as confirming that supporting documents for services received and certificates of work done exist.

In light of this serious infringement, the Auditor-General has recommended that the amount of GH¢58,126.21 be retrieved from the Coordinating Director and the Finance Officer of the Assembly and deposited into the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) account.

“We could not confirm the authenticity of the payments and therefore recommended that the amount of GH¢58,126.21 should be recovered from the Coordinating Director and the Finance Officer of the Assembly into the DACF account,” the A-G’s report stated.

The Ghana Audit Service has urged media practitioners to thoroughly examine the Auditor-General’s report before filing their news stories to prevent unnecessary mistakes.

Over the years, the Service observed that some media houses and journalists misinterpret and misreport the findings of the Auditor-General’s document, leading to numerous inaccuracies.

The 2024 report revealed that irregularities identified among public boards, statutory bodies, corporations and others surged to GH¢18.4 billion, a significant increase from GH¢8.8 billion in 2023.

Some journalists interpreted these irregularities as indicating that all the funds have been lost or possibly misappropriated by individuals.

During a two-day training session for journalists in Kumasi, organized by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), Frederick Lokko, Assistant Director of Audit at the Ghana Audit Service, clarified that irregularities do not necessarily imply that the money has been squandered.

Instead, they indicate that the funds were not used properly in accordance with the regulations outlined in the Public Financial Management Act.

While Mr. Lokko acknowledged the possibility that some funds might have been misappropriated, he stressed the importance for journalists to avoid sensationalism and exaggerated headlines by accurately understanding and interpreting the Auditor-General’s report before reporting on it..

“The real motivation has been the fact that over the period, the service has observed the reportage on the Auditor-General’s report has not really been a true reflection of what the report contains and the intentions of the report, so that has been the main driving factor of this training,” he said.

“The main challenge is that, most of the media houses run with this figure (GHC18.4 billion irregularities). And the perception, the way it’s portrayed to the general public is as if this amount of money is being misappropriated by public officers. And to a large extent, even it’s like it’s lost,” he added.

Mr. Lokko believes that journalists should be careful not to report the findings in a way that causes panic among citizens, as this could erode trust in the political class and potentially lead to civil unrest.

Pamela Laourou, Assistant Communications Officer at the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, stated that the training is critical in the fight against corruption since the report reveals how public resources are managed, flagging irregularities and gaps in accountability.

“Equipping journalists with the skills to analyse and report effectively makes the media a powerful watchdog for transparency and good governance,” she indicated.

The journalists were drawn from four regions, including Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, and Western North.

The training, conducted in three zones, benefited approximately 90 journalists across all 16 regions of the country.