Recover monies not fully accounted for from House of Chiefs- Committee

Accra, July 14, GNA- Parliament on Tuesday adopted a report of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, which recommended that the Minister of Chieftaincy takes the appropriate steps to recover an amount of GHC 7,930 that was not fully accounted for by the National House of Chiefs.

The committee said it was not satisfied with the state of the accounts of the House of Chiefs after it noticed fraudulent payments amounting to GHC 7,930.

The chairman of the committee, Mr Albert Kan Dapaah said they noted that the culprit, one Mr Otchere Boateng was the same person who could not produce his cash balance for physical count, when it was requested for and urged the Minister to retrieve the money. The committee asked the Minister to use the services of the police when necessary.

Mr Kan Dapaah also noted that the cashbook of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs revealed a cash balance of GHC 5,962 as at 14 May 2004, however the amount could not be produced as requested by the auditors for a cash count. He said the Audit Service Officials informed the Committee that the then Registrar, Mr Otchere Boateng explained that the amount had been used to meet expenses incurred at the Adae Kese festival in Kumasi. This, he said, could not be substantiated as the Registrar could not support his claim with the necessary authorization, payment vouchers and other relevant documentation

Mr Kan Dapaah told the House that the Auditor-General informed the Committee that he recommended to the Chieftaincy Secretariat to pursue the recovery of the cash balance from the Registrar during the period, 2001-2004.

He said a response from the Ministry of Chieftaincy revealed that the Registrar was on retirement and had accepted to refund the money, "but unfortunately as at now, no amount has been paid". The Committee Chairman said audits also revealed that out of the 184 Houses of Chiefs and Traditional councils, only 55 (30 percent) prepared their annual financial statements and submitted them for audit within the audit period.

He said the situation was in violation of the Financial Administration Regulations.

The report of the Public Accounts Committee was based on a report of the Auditor-General on the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs and Traditional Houses of Chiefs and Traditional Councils for the period 2001-2004.

The purpose of the Audit was to ascertain whether the National and Regional House of Chiefs and the Traditional Councils during the period, kept a proper books of account.

The audit focussed on whether the house accounted fully for all public monies, expended monies in line with the purposes for which they were appropriated and whether it undertook programmes and activities with due regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness in relation to the resources utilized and results achieved among others. 14 July 09