PAC THREATENS TO SUMMON IGP TO ANSWER QUESTIONS OVER A GUN LICENCE FEE

 

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has threatened to summon the Inspector General of Police, IGP before it to answer questions relating to the lodging of a gun licence fee into a wrong account.  A Divisional Commander of Police at Sogakope in the South Tongu District has reportedly collected revenues under the South Tongu Collection Accounts and lodged the said amount into a Ghana Commercial Bank at the High Street Branch in Accra instead of the Consolidated Fund at the Bank of Ghana. The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament Kweku Agyemang-Manu wondered why since 2011 the Ministry of Finance was not able to retrieve the money. He therefore gave the Ministry and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department up to next week to update the Committee on the issue. Failure to do so he emphasized may result in summoning the IGP to the Committee.

Meanwhile, the Auditor General has observed what it termed continued violations and financial indiscipline on the part of Ministries, Departments and Agencies regarding the effective and efficient utilization of public funds.

 According to the Auditor General the financial irregularities across the country show the lack of probity, non-compliance and disregard for the tenets of regulations governing the utilization of State resources. These were contained in a Letter to Parliament. Reading critical portions of the letter during the first 2016 public hearing of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament today, the Chairman of the Committee Kweku Agyemang-Manu said the Controller and Accountant General’s Department and the Ministry of Finance should be held responsible for the infractions across the country. 

The audit report cites the ministry of Finance for paying salary of individuals retired, dead or resigned to the tune of 167,000 Ghana cedis. The report also noted various cash irregularities involving officials who had been given monies to undertake various assignment. How the monies were spent could not be verified. There were also several instances where money approved had been misapplied amounting to 53,490 Ghana cedis. The Committee is considering the Auditor General’s report for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 financial years.

 Appearing before the Committee were the Minister of Finance and the Controller and Accountant General and their Directors.  The Finance Minister before the committee who appeared  acknowledged difficulties in tracking the use of public funds but he explained since the 2013 report was prepared, government has now addressed weak financial accounting. Seth Terkper explained an electronic system, the Ghana Intergrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) has been put in place to effectively monitor the ministry's monies. The system is expected to make payments from the ministry electronic hence more easily tracebable. "We have automated all financial accounting system to the point where almost all releases are processed electronically"