Malfeasance in Yilo Krobo Assembly exposed

Mr Nampaha Tii, a former Conservancy Labourer of the Yilo Krobo District assembly, jailed for six years in 1998, by the Odumase Krobo Circuit Court, managed to collect his salary for two years, totalling 3.7 million cedis before the error was detected.

This was due to the failure of the Assembly to inform the Somanya branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank about Tii's imprisonment for the bank to stop his salary and transfer it to the Controller and Accountant-General's Suspense Account.

The financial malfeasance was contained in an audit report on the Yilo Krobo District Assembly conducted for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and signed by Mrs Bertha Norvor, a Director at the Auditor-General's Department.

The report said a colleague of the convict, Mr Isaac Agbo, informed the convict of the anomaly. Tii in turn gave his wife an authority note duly signed by two Akuse Prisons Officials, Chief Superintendent Dapaah and his Deputy, Mr Ansah, that enabled her withdraw the money.

The audit report said Tii was able to collect over 1.4 million cedis between January and December 1999 and 2.3 million cedis in 2000.

The report recommended that the whereabouts of the ex-convict should be traced to recover the money from him or that the Prison Officers, who counter-signed the authority notes should be held liable for the recovery of the amount.

The report, which dealt with a wide range of issues also, revealed that salary advances given to some members of staff have been outstanding since 1996. It also touched on variation in the cost of the rehabilitation of a lorry park project at Nkurankan by over 341.4 per cent "without the approval of either the District Tender Board or the General Assembly, contrary to the provisions of the Financial Memoranda".

The report recommended that in future, "all variations in original contract sums should first be referred to the District Tender Board for approval".

This recommendation, according to the audit panel, was because it considered the variations "unrealistic and unprofessional."

"In future, variations in contract sums should be "realistic and be done in a more professional manner taking into consideration, prices of materials at the time of the award of the contract and the inflationary trend at the time of the review on the original contract."

The Report also exposed instances where the Assembly had partly paid for projects abandoned by contractors.

For instance, it cited Messrs Muskat Enterprises Limited, which was contracted in June 1998 to construct a pavilion for the Koyire Roman Catholic Primary School but rather erected "wooden structures without roofing them".

"This structure was left to deteriorate while the District Engineer at the time, Mr Sarfo Brobbey certified that the project had been fully completed and prepared a certificate for the payment of 18 million cedis to the contractor."

The Assembly, however, paid only five million cedis, leaving a balance of 13 million cedis.