THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry (MoTAI) and auditors from the Ghana Audit Service to contact Standard Chartered Bank to provide an explanation regarding an account through which some payments were made in relation to the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative, which the bank allegedly claims does not exist.
The committee gave the directive on Monday when officials from the ministry appeared before it to provide explanations on some infractions cited in the Auditor-General’s special report on government outstanding claims and commitments as at the end of December 2024.
According to the report, the bank did not recognise any account. “This account is also captured in the books of the Bank of Ghana,” Mr Tumfo added.
According to him, forward transfers were made by the central bank to the accounts of participating financial institutions under the transaction of GH¢10.5 million in its records, as cited in the Auditor-General’s special audit report, and therefore denied the existence of any bank account through which such a transaction took place.
Responding to the committee, the Chief Director of the ministry, Mr Noah Tumfo, said he was surprised that the bank indicated that such an account did not exist, adding that the ministry had documents, including bank statements and letters detailing the account number, to prove that the account existed.
“We read from the Auditor-General’s report that Standard Chartered Bank said the account we referred to did not exist in their books. I want to put on record that the account exists in their books, and we have documents to prove it,” he said.
“As part of the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative, all participating financial institutions provided their bank accounts, and 1D1F initiative.
Mr Tumfo noted that all the necessary documents, including bank statements, were made available to auditors from the Ghana Audit Service.
The auditors, during the committee hearing, indicated that when the bank was contacted, it said it could not trace the said account through which the transaction was made. However, it identified another account through which a similar transaction had taken place.
Such a response by the bank, as indicated by the auditors, raised suspicions among members of the committee, who began to question the entire transaction between the bank and the ministry.
The Ranking Member of the committee and Member of Parliament for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem, Mr Samuel Atta-Mills, who chaired the hearing, said, “What we may end up doing is to invite the bank to a closed session with the auditors and the ministry to gain a better understanding of the issue.”
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON TETTEY
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