Three former District Chief Executives (DCEs) alone under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government embezzled more than 2.8 billion cedis, Captain Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (rtd), Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development said on Saturday. He said the ex-DCEs were for Jaman in the Brong Ahafo, Saboba-Chereponi in the Northern Region and New Juaben in the Eastern Region.

Captain Effah-Dartey said a report by the Auditor-General about the accounts of district assemblies between 1999 and 2000 revealed that, the ex-DCE for Jaman DCE one Mr Gyasi squandered 900 million cedis, the one for New Juaben, 900 million cedis while that for Saboba-Chereponi "chopped" more than one billion cedis.

The Deputy Minister who was addressing a forum organised by the Brong-Ahafo regional secretariat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Sunyani said these were only instances since a lot of the former DCEs were involved in economic crimes against the state. The forum, attended by executives and functionaries of the party and the public was aimed at explaining the achievements and policies of the government.

He said that former DCEs who indulged in acts of financial malfeasance, impropriety and embezzlement would soon be arraigned before court for prosecution, adding that, the issue had been referred to the Attorney General's Department for study.

Capt. Effah-Dartey who is also the MP for Berekum expressed regret that despite Ghana's abundant natural and human resources, it was still struggling to make economic headway and blamed the situation on corruption, mismanagement, misrule and bad governance of the previous government.

The Deputy Minister said "Ghana has no reason to be poor because the situation is our own making," adding that, "if we remain poor, it is just an ungratefulness to God". He said for instance that, the Boti falls in the Yilo Krobo District of the Eastern Region attracted a lot of tourists and holidaymakers on festive occasions yet revenue "was nothing to write home about".

During the NDC era, only 200,000 cedis was being accounted for on every first July, a national holiday, the Deputy Minister said, but since the NPP assumed the reins of government the Assembly generated eight million cedis on the same occasion last year.

Captain Effah-Dartey said Ghana required dedicated, honest and highly principled leaders to lead it but not "those who take advantage of their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of the nation's general progress". Lord Commey, national organiser and Kwame Twumasi Awuah, acting national youth organiser of the NPP respectively and Mr Ignatius Baffuor-Awuah, Sunyani District Chief Executive also addressed the forum.