SCANDAL’s checks at the Auditor General’s Department have revealed that even as the department is preparing to print a draft of its 2012 Report, the Divestiture Implementation Committee has still not paid in full an outstanding amount of GHc8.3m accrued from the sale of seven State Enterprises as far back as 2009.
The sold State Enterprises are; Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Company Limited, Tema Shipyard and Drydock, Atlantic Hotel Takoradi, GIHOC Pharmaceuticals, GFDC Property Sunyani, GNTC Bungalow-Accra and GPC Printing Press in Takoradi.
According to our sources, even a sum of Ghc 4,050,000 which was paid by the Zoomlion Group for the purchase of Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Company Limited as far back as 2010 had not been deposited into the Consolidated Fund.
Two Weeks ago we carried a banner headline about how monies accruing from the sale of government’s assets had not been paid into the Consolidated Fund in line the Financial Administration Regulations. And last week our Editorial focused on the same subject and complained about the lack of response from the relevant institutions.
This matter has been outstanding since 2010 and the Auditor General’s Reports have always captured these concerns. Parliament has gone through these Reports and also presented their reports, but the status quo remains- no reaction, no payment.
The Scandal is careful not to accuse anybody of stealing or diverting state money, but we also have some very pertinent questions on this matter that need answers. 1. Did the buyers of these assets pay for them? 2. If they did, then where are the monies currently lodged and why? 3. If the buyers have not yet paid for the assets, is there a time limit within which they are expected pay? 4. How are the outstanding debts being treated; as loans or as grants to the buyers? 5. Have the buyers taken possession of the assets?
And so we say “LET US HAVE SOME ANSWERS NOW!!!
The Controller and Accountant General (CAG) in its response to the Auditor General in 2011, said an amount of GHc300, 000. 00 and USD500, 000 representing part payment for the outstanding balance had been transferred into the consolidated fund. Since then, there has not been any reported progress on the payments. Rather what the Scandal has learnt is a large portion of the proceeds has been used to settle expenses.
For once let us be serious and show that we care about this country. GHc8.3m of the State’s money has not been paid into the public purse. The Auditor General has raised this matter in at least two of its annual reports and presented to our Parliament and yet there are no answers. Nobody is accountable, nobody feels responsible. We are just moving on and minding our own business as though GHc8.3m is nothing and can as well get lost.
This is happening at a time when our wives, mothers and sisters have to travel long distances to fetch water from gutters, open drains and little ponds across the country for household use. This is happening at a time when in parts of this country, children still sit under trees to learn. This is happening at a time when doctors, nurses and teachers go on frequent strikes over conditions of service.
We know that the people who ought to give us answers and take action on these matters do not suffer the predicaments mentioned above. For them and their friends GHc8.3m may be a little change, and it does not matter where that change is. But for some of us, it is our inheritance and our right. It is money that could come in handy, to ease the burden of a mother or a child.
