More 'Chop Chop' At Public Account Hearing'

THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS Committee (PAC) of Parliament's hearing has revealed more staggering cases of 'chop chop' at Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as ministries of Defense; and Chieftaincy and Culture yesterday appeared before the committee.

Considering the report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana for the years ended 2007, 2008 and 2009 of MDAs, it was uncovered that there was the payment of unearned salaries to one Patrick Kwadu-Amponsem, an officer at the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture in 2008, to the tune of GH¢10,632.00.

Mr. Kwadu-Amponsem, who is now said to be domiciled in the United Kingdom, has been directed by the Auditor-General to pay the money back to chest, entreating management to enforce the directive.

The man, who bolted with state funds, was the special assistant to Sampson K. Boafo, former Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture and Member of Parliament for Subin, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

Auditors disclosed during the public hearing that after the Audit-General's report in 2009, the ministry, by its letter no. MCC/PA/618 of 27 th April, 2009, wrote to the Office of the President to withhold the End of Service Benefit (ESB) of Mr. Kwadu-Amponsem until the money he owed was fully refunded.

Responding to the request, the Office of the President wrote back to the A-G that it was withholding the amount of GH¢4,973.11, being the ESB of Mr. Kwadu-Amponsem.

The Chieftaincy and Culture ministry, according to the auditors, asked the ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform Mr. Kwadu-Amponsem, through the Ghana high Commission in the United Kingdom, of the use of his ESB to defray part of the unearned salaries he took and the need for him to make arrangement to pay the outstanding GH¢5,658.89.

When the committee quizzed Alexander Asum-Ahensan, Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture, about the whereabouts of Mr. Kwadu-Amponsem, he indicated that all efforts to get Mr. Sampson Boafo to produce his personal assistant had failed.

It was also disclosed at yesterday's public hearing that the failure to terminate the appointment of one Richard Ndede Ackah resulted in him receiving salary at a time when he had long resigned from the ministry.

Mr. Ackah received unearned salary of GH¢2,371.47, which auditors had directed management to recover.

In a bid to trace him, management wrote to the Director-General of CID to help locate and retrieve the amount.

According to management, efforts to trace Mr. Ackah, who is suspected to be domiciled in Italy, Britain, or Spain, have proved futile.

It said per the advice of the ministry's Audit Report Implementation Committee (ARIC), the issue had been referred to the Ministerial Advisory Board to consider writing the money off as bad debt.

However, the Chairman of PAC, Albert Kan-Dapaah, kicked against the move, insisting that Mr. Ackah must be compelled to refund the money to the state.

By Awudu Mahama