Former DCE To Refund ?500m or Face Prosecution

THE former District Chief Executive and some officials of the Zabzugu Tatale District Assembly in the Northern Region are to refund an amount of ?500 million.

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, who disclosed this to the press at Ho at the weekend, indicated that the recommendation was made by the Auditor General's Department auditing the accounts of all the district assemblies in the country.

The minister explained that there are regulations which do not permit certain expenditures by the district assemblies, so those who flout them have themselves to blame for their recalcitrance. In some districts, projects listed to have been undertaken are not in existence.

According to him, the audit of 30 out of the 110 districts have been released and 20 DCES are expected to refund various sums of money, adding that reports on the remaining 80 may be out within two weeks.

He said the full report of the Auditor General may be released and soon those found to have shady accounts may face the law, while those with clean records will be paid their end-of-service benefits.

Mr Baah-Wiredu charged the district assemblies to monitor, on a daily basis, the collection and lodgement of all revenues, especially property rates and market tolls.

He said observation of a pilot project on the tracking of revenue at Kasoa and four other markets in Accra indicates that effective monitoring could result in substantial increase in revenue.

He, therefore, asked the DCEs to have a firm understanding of important legislation including Chapter 20 of the 1992 Constitution, Local Government Act 462, Legislative Instruments LI 1589 and 1606 and Financial Memo, Section 81, Act 54 (1961).

Mr Baah-Wiredu asked the district assemblies to submit weekly food security reports, hold regular meetings to discuss security matters and ensure that official prices of kerosene are maintained in the districts.

Other issues he talked about are the Presidential Special Initiative, which covers production and processing of industrial starch, and payment and time-table for the payment of District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and the District Response Initiative towards the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kwesi Owusu-Yeboah, advised the DCEs to implement all relevant decisions taken at the meeting for the ultimate good of the people.

He also urged them to seek information and knowledge to be able to inform the electorate about government's plans, programmes and policies.

Earlier in a welcoming address, Mr Linus Codman Coffie, Ketu District Chief Executive, lauded the government’s resolve to streamline the payment of the Common Fund and appealed for an increase to enable assemblies to meet their numerous responsibilities.