Two Ex-Ministers Indicted Over ¢60bn 'Chop-Chop'

A 2008 audit investigation of the Ministry of Information has indicted two former Deputy Ministers of Finance for wrongfully withdrawing ¢60 billion from four bank accounts, recommending that the two, together with a former Chief Director of the Ministry should be sanctioned.

According to the audit report, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, “wrongfully released a total of GH¢6,000,000 equivalent to ¢60 billion from the Petroleum Debt Recovery, the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, and the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative Fund Accounts to the ministry of Information.

The audit stated that the ¢60 billion was partly “misapplied on a Communication Strategy Programme,” adding that in future, “no payments should be made from the Petroleum Debt Recovery Fund because it contravenes the law which set the fund up”.

“Similarly”, the report added “No payments should be made from the three other funds without Parliamentary approval.” The audit report revealed that the previous government budgeted for a whopping US$8.9 million, representing about ¢82 billion the implementation of the so-called Communication Strategy Programme. The actual amount spent was GH¢5.999,562.18.“From available correspondence, we noted that the strategy was discussed at Cabinet meetings and approved although there was no approval letter to that effect.

“A budget was later prepared estimating that the total cost of implementing the programme billion but we found no Cabinet approval of the budget. We did not also find in the 2007 and 2008 national budgets Parliamentary approval for the expenditures incurred,” the report reveals.

TOR

On the withdrawal of over ¢15 billion from the Tema Oil Refinery Debt Recovery Account to pay to journalists and a group of phony radio callers, the audit report stated that, Section 6 (1) of the Debt Recovery Fund Act, 2003 stated that: “The monies assigned to the Fund shall only be disbursed for the purpose of payment of debts incurred by the Tema Oil Refinery Company and interest accruing on the debts”

The report observed that in blatant contravention of the relevant section of the Act, the ¢15 billion was released to the Ministry from the Petroleum Debt recovery Funds Account. No 0123260014022 with Bank of Ghana “on the instructions of Mr. Kwabena Adjei Mensah, who was then Director of Budget at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.”

The audit report indicated that the “withdrawal of monies from the Debt Recovery Fund account deprived Tema Oil Refinery of resources needed to meet interest and Capital payments on due rates.”

Furthermore, the investigation stated that even though there were claims that “Cabinet has approved” a Government Communication Strategy Programme, as a basis for the blowing of the over ¢60 billion, “we found that no such strategy document existed.”

DIC

Under the same so-called Communication Strategy the audit report states that “Under Section 6, of the Financial Administration Act, 2003, (Act 654), Divestiture proceeds form part of the Consolidated Fund. According to Section 178 of the 1992 Constitution, no moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund Except:

“To meet expenditure that is charged on that fund by the Constitution or by an Act of Parliament or Where the issue of those monies has been authorized by an appropriation Act or by a Supplementary estimate approved by resolution of Parliament passed for the purpose.”

The report stated that, contrary to the above, we found the MoFEP released ¢15 billion to the Ministry of Information, from account No. 0124260021000 held by the Bank of Ghana, upon instructions of Hon. Professor G. Gyan-Baffour, former Deputy Minister.

MDRI

The audit investigation said “According to Section 6 (1) of the Financial Administration Act, any Money received for Government business shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund. As such funds received from under Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) form part of Money’s received for government business or on behalf of the Government, even though such money’s are credited into MDRI account at the Bank of Ghana”

The audit report noted that the modalities for the disbursement of MDRI funds are agreed with the World Bank, Internal Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank and incorporated into the national budget, which is approved by Parliament.

The report said, in contravention of the above, Hon. Dr. Akoto Osei, then Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning by a letter dated October 20, 2008 with reference No. MB77/190/03 orchestrated the release of ¢15 billion.

Auditor General’s Department stated that even though that amount was blown on the Communicating Strategy, “we found no evidence that there was any agreement with the three donor institutions to spend the MDRI funds on it.”

HIPC

Again, from the HIPC fund, the previous government paid yet another ¢15 billion for the mystery Communication Strategy on the instructions of Dr. Akoto Osei. But the report observes that under the Section 6 (1a) of the Financial Administration Act.

Funds transferred into the HIPC account at Bank of Ghana form part of “money’s received for government business or on behalf of the Government” and so the modalities for disbursement of the fund are therefore included in the national budget, which is approved by Parliament.

The audit indicated that when they contacted the Ministry of Finance to respond to their observations, the response was that “they did not know why these funds were released from those sources.”

The audit concluded on this matter saying that “in our opinion, making payments from the Consolidated Fund without the approval of Parliament was not only unconstitutional and a breach of the Financial discipline but it also deprived other sectors of the economy, funds which had been approved for their use”

Source: The Enquirer