The Public Account Committee (PAC) has directed the Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD) for Aowin Assembly, Eric Adomako, and the Finance Officer, to refund about GH¢10,967, in accordance with the 2017 Auditor General’s (AG) report findings.
The amount was paid to a planning officer, Mr Enimil Atsu, now the Co-ordinating Director for Ellembelle District Assembly, who later appeared before PAC, and declared that he would contest the report.
The Chairman of PAC, James Klutse Avedzi, gave the directive on Wednesday during its sitting in Takoradi, in the Western Region.
It was to consider the AG’s report on the management and the untilisation of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and other statutory funds, ending December, 2017.
Mr Avedzi was worried the Aowin Assembly could not explain and produce evidence covering 18 payment vouchers of GH¢44,481.10 from the Internally Generated Fund (IGF), which the Committee recommended should be recovered.
He said Mr Adomako would be charged for perjury because he told untruth that the assembly had the warrant at the time of sitting.
When the Municipal Chief Executive, Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, pleaded for clemency, Mr Avedzi replied; “What is the purpose of the law? Do we need the law in Ghana? The law is to guide and direct us and everybody is pleading, why?
A member of PAC, Mr Samuel Atta Mills, was also not happy that the AG report cited the Wassa Amanfi East Assembly for making an unsubstantiated claim of GH¢39,699 from the DACF during the period.
“For three weeks during the auditing you could not provide the evidence and you have collected people’s money. Produce the evidence. The report spoke of poor record keeping and recommended that the Finance Officers should be surcharged. You have no excuse, the excuses are too many,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the PAC Chairman had queried the Ellembelle Assembly for not accounting for about GH¢64,209, collected by 29 revenue collectors, and wondered whether police investigations could unravel the locked-up account.
When the team from Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly appeared before the committee, Mr Avedzi wanted to know why GH¢55,728 from the DACF that was used as financial assistance to 29 students had not been accounted for and the beneficiaries could not be traced, to help provide evidence for that transaction.
BY CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE