…Contracts Awarded To 7 Unqualified Contractors Exposed!

The Audit Service has indicted the West Mamprusi District Assembly in the Northern Region of awarding contracts worth about Gh¢400,000.00 to contractors who “did not possess the requisite requirement to enter the procurement” process.

“There was evidence in our review that, the contractors were using invalid copies of Social Security and National Insurance Trust Clearance Certificates; Tax Clearance Certificates; Business Certificates and some contractors were without these certificates”, revealed the Audit report.

The report dated April 28, 2012, and signed by Hajia Habiba Osman, the District Auditor and copied the Auditor-General, Accra as well as The Regional Auditor, Tamale made over fifty(50) adverse findings against the Assembly for the period January 1 to December 31, 2011.

Among the various findings against the Assembly were failure to acknowledge receipt of money from the Administrator of the District Assembly Common Fund, award of contracts above the District Tender Committee Threshold, Non-Competitive bidding process, non –preparation and submission of Engineer’s estimates, etc.

However, Abubakari Inusah Ali, the District Coordinating Director of the Assembly in an interview with The New Crusading GUIDE yesterday described the findings by the Audit Service as “normal” since no act of embezzlement had been found against the Assembly.

“I saw the report about three weeks ago and a meeting is yet to be convened so that the specific persons concerned would provide the appropriate responses which would be sent to the Audit Service”, he explained.

The non-preparation of Engineer’s contract values (estimates) before the award of contracts, according to the report, “could result in contract values being on the higher side, as they may be inconsistent with local market prices. Also, without a robust basis for evaluating the bids submitted, we are unable to determine value was obtained for the contracts awarded”.