PAC orders arrest of auctioneer

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has asked that an auctioneer who failed to account for the sale of five vehicles on behalf of the Ministry of Lands and Forestry in 2010 be arrested.

This came to light during the committee’s review of the 2012 Auditor General’s report on the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and its allied agencies.

The auctioneer, by name Kwaku Sarpong, after successfully disposing of the cars, had failed to provide the Ministry with proceeds from the sale.

Chief Director at the Ministry narrated how the auctioneer had evaded them since 2010.

“On the 19th of November, we wrote to the auctioneer and he came to the Ministry to indicate that he was going to pay, but after that he switched off his phones and we cannot reach him, so our next action is to report him to the police,” he stated.

“We believed him that he was going to keep his word. We have done a lot to try to catch him, but we failed. But we promise that immediately after this, this will be one of the issues we will report to the police to deal with,” he added.

But the members of the committee expressed disgust at the Ministry’s inability in retrieving the money and have since issued a two-week ultimatum to the Ministry to make efforts in locating the auctioneer or have the Chief Director surcharged.