"Missing" $55,000 Saga: Minister in More Trouble

MR. THOMAS Broni, deputy Minister of the Interior, last Thursday misled the public when he attempted to discredit Chronicle's article about the 'missing' $55,000, secretly withdrawn from the Forestry Commission's (FC) accounts, in connection with the purchase of a car for him.

He said the $55,000 (about ?473 million at the current exchange rate) as captured by Chronicle in our Thursday's lead story was false. He maintained that the actual amount requested and withdrawn from the accounts of the FC for the purchase of a car for him was rather $30,000 and not $55,000 as stated by this paper.

The letter requesting the release of the money captured it as loan. The Ministry of Lands and Forestry promised to use part of its Investment Activities Funds (IAF), allocated in last year's budget, for the repayment of the so-called loan, but that has not been fulfilled.

But Chronicle authoritatively can report that an amount of $55,000 (about ?411,461,650 as the exchange rate during last year when the car was purchased) was withdrawn from the accounts of the cash-strapped Forestry Commission upon a request.

Broni had told listeners and Kwaku Owusu-Frimpong, one of the talented hosts of Peace FM, during the radio station's popular newspaper review morning show programme on Thursday, June 12 this year, that only $30,000 was withdrawn from the accounts of the FC, as a loan, upon the request his ministry made for the purchase of a brand new Landcruiser for him.

"If Broni's assertion that only $30,000 was withdrawn from the accounts of the Forestry Commission he must come back to tell the public who took the remaining $25,000 since it is obvious that the total amount withdrawn from the FC was $55,000," a senior journalist who compared notes with Chronicle stated.

Late last week the deputy minister surrendered the brand new Landcruiser he took away from the Ministry of Lands and Forestry to his new schedule at the Interior ministry.

The decision to surrender the vehicle to the Lands and Forestry ministry, according to insiders, was after he was informed that Chronicle had uncovered the cloak of secrecy surrounding the 'missing' $55,000 from the accounts of the Forestry Commission and traced it as the source of funds used for the acquisition of his car.

As at last week when Chronicle spoke to Boachie Dapaah, chief Executive of the FC and Broni, in a separate interviews, not even a dime had been repaid to the commission on the questionable loan.

Boachie Dapaah admitted during an interview with Chronicle that indeed $55,000 was transfered from the accounts of his outfit to the ministry upon a request dated August 15, 2002.

Boachie Dapaah, in an attempt to please the minister, slammed the regulations governing the administration of state institutions when he failed to even notify the board of the commission, let alone seek their approval, and hastily went ahead to release funds seven days after a letter to that effect was dispatched to him.

Documents available to Chronicle, including receipt of the payment and pro-forma invoice from Toyota Ghana Ltd, confirm that indeed an amount of $55,000 was fast-tracked from the accounts of the FC for the purchase of the luxurious Toyota Landcruiser with registration number GW 501 T.

"With his position it is now incumbent on the part of Broni, to tell Ghanaians where the $25,000 went if he maintains that the car cost him or the ministry $30,000 since documents available and the accounts of the FC show that an amount of $55,000 was strangely withdrawn," a source at the Ministry of Lands and Forestry observed.

On August 15, last year, Mr. Sampson Adjei, the acting chief director at the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, drafted a letter to Mr. Boachie Dapaah, asking him to release $55,000, captured as a loan for the purchase of a car for the deputy minister.

Adjei's letter with reference number MLF/P1059 was themed as: REQUEST FOR A LOAN. He then wrote that: "This ministry urgently requires to purchase a suitable vehicle for use by the deputy minister who has been at post since March, last year. The vehicle allocated to him is constantly breaking down and is also unsuitable for trekking purposes," it went on.

"As you are aware this ministry should be able to provide a strong 4-wheel-drive vehicle to the minister to enable him undertake official visits to all parts of the country in the performance of his duties efficiently," the acting chief director, Adjei, wrote.

He stated that :"We have identified a vehicle which can serve the purpose described in the above paragraphs. The cost of the vehicle is US$55,000.00 (Fifty-five thousand US dollars).We wish to request you to grant a loan to this ministry for the purpose of purchasing this vehicle."

Adjei added that: We believe we will be able to repay this loan when we receive our release of funds in respect of Investment Activities from the Ministry of Finance. Boachie Dapaah readily yielded and authorized the commission's accountant to transfer $55,000 for the ministry.

The amount for the purchase of the car was said to have been paid in cedi accounts of the Toyota Ghana Ltd at the Standard Chartered Bank High Street branch, Accra.

On August 22, last year, the transfer of the amount was effected by the commission's accounts section with a cheque numbered 56551707. The vehicle was subsequently released to the minister after the payment was effected.

Both Broni and Dapaah shared the view that there was nothing wrong with the withdrawal of funds from the FC for the purchase of a car for the minister when they spoke to the paper last week.

Chronicle gathered that after the transaction the board of the commission was later hinted that some $55,000 was 'missing' from the accounts of the commission.

This information therefore prompted the board to raise an alarm over the whereabouts of the amount, Chronicle learnt.

It was gathered that when the chief executive, Boachie Dapaah, was confronted over the issue he broke the news to the board that he had released such an amount as a loan for the purchase of car for the deputy minister.

"In fact some board members could not come to terms with what they heard from Dapaah," a source at the FC told Chronicle.

Was the vehicle registered in the name of the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, and was the vehicle registered by the transport section at the ministry? A probe will unearth what really happened.