Auditor General?s report into the operations of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions have uncovered a number of irregularities leading to misapplication of funds.
Some of the irregularities uncovered included disregard for the procurement process in awarding contracts, making payments without supporting vouchers, missing receipts and misapplication of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) running into thousands of Ghana Cedis.
This came to light in Tamale on Wednesday when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament scrutinized the accounts of Wa Municipality, Wa East, and Wa West to begin a three-day public hearing into the Auditor General?s report on the activities of MMDAs of the three regions of the north.
Not only did the report uncover irregularities but also officials of the MMDAs, including Municipal and District Chief Executives, Coordinating Directors, Finance Officers, Store Keepers, who were present to respond to the issues raised, displayed ignorance about the issues raised and could not provide adequate answers.
This compelled PAC to suspend the hearings into the accounts of Wa East and asked its (Wa East) officials to go and abreast themselves of the report before attending to the committee (PAC).
Mr George Loh, Deputy Ranking Member of PAC, who briefed journalists after the first session of the hearings, expressed displeasure at the inability of the officials of the MMDAs to adequately answer the queries raised in the report.
Mr Loh, who is also Member of Parliament for North Dayi, said the situation showed that the officials were not conversant with the Financial Administration Act and therefore, did not follow it in their activities.
He said ?We are not getting value for money because government?s funds are being badly managed.?
He said it was pathetic that officials hired and paid by the state seemed not to know their jobs and called on them to improve their performance for the public to have confidence in them.
Earlier, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, Northern Regional Minister said demands on government and MMDAs for infrastructure and better life were high and urged MMDAs to ensure that they utilized the available resources to satisfy the demands of the people.
Alhaji Limuna suggested that ?PAC should place some emphasis on sharing best practices so that best performing MMDAs can share their experiences and thoughts to motivate others to do better.?
GNA
