Keta Sea Defence project: Consultant Overpaid by $12,000

A Consultant engaged on the Keta Sea Defence project in the Volta Region was overpaid by $12,000. This anomally was due to the lack of cash control procedures at the Ministry of Works and Housing.

These were contained in the 2000 report of the Auditor-General presented to Parliament recently. The report showed that two lifts valued at ?639m which were fully paid for in 1995 had not been supplied and installed at the Ministry of Works and Housing. The contractor, Messrs Electrovator Limited, could not be traced.

According to the report, 46 staff of the ministry were indebted to the Department of Rural and Cottage Industries to the tune of ?10.8m. A total of 62 staff and non-staff of the Ministry who were granted loans in the form of building materials failed to repay a total of ?79.1m as at December 2000.

The report stated that a total amount of ?5.5m was wrongfully claimed as travelling, transport and night allowances at the Kwanyako Secondary by the Agona District Treasury. Out of that amount, ?2.6m had been recovered leaving an outstanding amount of ?2.9m.

It said that between January 1997 and December 1998, a sum of ?37m was disbursed at Agona Swedru District Treasury without supporting authorised Financial Encumbrances (FEs). That, the report noted, was contrary to Regulation 287 of the existing regulations.

At the Ministry of Tourism, a total of 38,661 tourism manuals valued at ?360m could not be traced. According to the report, the auditors were informed that the manuals were in the custody of the director, Research and Information. However, efforts made to obtain the distribution list from the said director failed.

Similarly, a sum of ?61.5m which was advanced to the commandant of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) Training School to meet the feeding cost of trainees could not be accounted for. There were no records on how the total amount was spent.

The report revealed that 11 casual labourers at the Enchi District Hospital were being paid without letters of engagement. Consequently, ?4.5m had been paid as at October 2000 to the labourers.

At Kpassa Health Centre, revenue totalling ?12.2m was misappropriated by the Medical Assistant in charge of the centre during the period under review. The report did not name the officer involved. It recommended that the said amounts should be recovered from the affected individuals.