Deputy Auditor-General reacts to allegations of embezzlement

Mr John Lartey, a Deputy-Auditor General has denied that he together with three other senior staff were arrested for allegedly deducting over 300 million cedis from staff salary arrears paid in 1999 to 2001 to bribe public officials.

Mr Lartey was reacting to Ghana News Agency report that quoted a source at the Criminal Investigation Department (DID) that the four senior officers of the

Audit Service were arrested for embezzling 37 million cedis, which they claimed, they used to bribe Public officials for salary increases in the service and Parliament to facilitate the passage of the Audit Service Bill in 2000.

He said "the fact of the matter is that in line with the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) the Audit Service Divisional Union of PSWU (TUC), levies totalling 37,833,000 were deducted from the salary arrears paid in December 2000 during the administration of the former Auditor-General, Mr. O.T. Prempeh.

"The entire amount was subsequently paid in January 2001 in two instalments of 10 million and 27,833 million cedis, respectively, to the Executives of the Local Union through the divisional chairman for their promotional and protocol activities.

"When the Acting Auditor-General Mr. Edward Dua Agyeman assumed office in April 2001, I handed over the Finance and Administration Department to another

Deputy Auditor-General in July 2001 following changes in portfolios.

"Under the terms of the same CBA levies totalling 12 million were similarly deducted from the arrears of salaries of the workers for 2001 paid in January 2002 under the administration of the current Acting Auditor-General, Mr. Edward Dua Agyeman.

"However, without any prior discussions with me, I received a letter dated 23 May, 2002 from the Acting Auditor-General raising a number of queries on the 37 million cedis staff levy made during the tenure of office of his predecessor. "I immediately registered my displeasure at his approach to this matter, which I felt would not augur well for healthy inter-personal relationship between us.

"Mr. Dua Agyeman noted that a cheque for 10 million cedis being part of the levies was jointly signed by Mr. George Appiah, former Director of Finance and myself, who was then Deputy Auditor-General/F&A, who were both authorized signatories to our bank accounts.

"He then enquired why the entire amount was paid to Mr. Samuel Amoako, a Senior Auditor. "I explained that the proceeds from the 10 million cheque I jointly signed with the Director of Finance as part-payment of the levy was not given to Mr. Samuel Amoako, Senior Auditor as an individual but rather the cheque was made payable to the Divisional Chairman, Local Union.

"If Mr. Dua Agyeman did not understand any part of my explanation with regard to the 37 million cedis levies deducted nearly two years ago, he could have sought further clarification from me through dialogue. "But instead, he wrote another letter dated 5 June 2002 in which he gave his own interpretation, conclusion and judgement on my explanation.

"I see this latest development and his inferences as far-fetched, highly mischievous and a deliberate ploy to divert attention from the main issue at stake namely my role in the jointly signing the cheque of 10 million cedis and its subsequent payment to the Union. "At this stage it was evident in that he has made himself a prosecutor, a jury and a judge of his own case. I did not therefore see the need to continue to engage in this seemingly endless polemics to the detriment of the Service.

"Precious man-hours and misplaced emphasis were being devoted to Union affairs, which could have been resolved by the Union itself, if there happens to be any genuine grievances and complaints. After all both the Acting Auditor-General and myself are not members of the Union.

"As rightly stated by Mr. Dua Agyeman in his letter dated 5 June 2002, to which I did not re-act, the Audit Service Bill passed by Parliament was gazetted in August 2000. "It finally received Presidential Assent on 10 October, 2000 as Act 584. The new salary levels were also approved in November 2000 and funds released to effect payment of the arrears arising thereof in December 2000.

"It is, therefore, highly incongruous and illogical that the 37 million cedis proceeds from the levies paid to the Union in January 2001 could have been used retrospectively as bribe for "paying monies to public officers to influence them to give unwarranted favour or to a Member of Parliament (MP) to accelerate the passage of the Audit Service Bill". For, both events were accomplished several months before levies were even deducted.

"Assuming there has been any misconduct on my part as widely publicised, the proper Disciplinary Authority should have been the Audit Service Board in accordance with Regulations 14 (b) and 15 of the Conditions of Service for Management Staff of the Audit Service. "Surprisingly, these issues and matters in so far as he seems to see them to be so important, have never been brought to the attention of the Board nor ever raised at its deliberations."

"The Acting Auditor-General instead referred the matter to the Police to conduct further investigations into the matter. I was accordingly invited by the CID on Monday, 17 June, 2002 to give a statement regarding my role in the signing of the 10 million cedis cheque paid to the Divisional Union chairman.

"I was immediately granted police enquiry bail to be contacted anytime I was needed. Since then, I have continued to perform my normal daily duties without any let or hindrance. "One would have thought that since Mr Dua Agyeman did not find himself competent to handle such an internal matter, he should have waited patiently for the outcome of the Police investigations.

"But instead, he rushed to the press with his inconclusive findings on the staff levy, a matter under police investigation. The question now is, have the police preferred any charge(s) against me? "Or has the Union denied receiving the proceeds of the 10 million cheque I jointly signed? If not, wherein lies the justification of my supposed arrest for embezzlement and bribery?

"Why has Mr. Dua Agyeman kept mute over the staff levies of 12 million cedis made in January 2002 during his tenure of office since he has refused to accept the binding effect of the CBA and maintained that the deductions made by his predecessor were unlawful? "One will equally ask under what authority or by what agreement of the workers were the same deductions effected under him?

In this connection, may I refer to a letter dated 21st June, 2002 addressed to the Acting Auditor-General by my solicitors and copied to the Board Chairman as well as the Union immediately after the Police intervention, which rightly warned: "In your position as the Acting Auditor-General you could have requested for a properly conducted audit into the affairs of the Audit Service and appropriate action taken on the findings and recommendations of the Auditors rather than hiding under non-existing grievances and complaints and be finding faults when none exists".

"I reiterate the perception of my solicitors in the said letter to Mr. Dua Agyeman on the implication of his action, prior to his going public, which is quoted in part "some of the measures being taken under the personal authority of the Acting Auditor-General might be misconstrued as deliberately targeting some specific individuals in the Service without just cause. "It is easy for some persons to see in it a kind of witch-hunting aimed at some people who are wrongly perceived as a threat to your office".

"No doubt the wide publicity given prematurely to his inconclusive findings in both the electronic and print media, has not only vindicated this perception, but has also brought the image of the Audit Service, into disrepute and put the credibility and integrity of its personnel at stake.

"It is in this vein that I find the unsubstantiated sensational headlines Auditors Arrested for Bribery in your paper as not only libellous but highly defamatory and a calculated attempt to tarnish my hard-earned reputation and expose me to general hatred, contempt and ridicule."