PAC Sitting: Afenyo-Markin condemns arrest of 2 finance officers

Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has condemned the arrest of the two finance officers who were accused of an attempt to mislead members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

According to Afenyo-Markin, it is a dent on the Committee questioning the basis with which the two government officials were arrested.

“Are we documentation examiners? Are we fraud examiners? On what basis did we say the document is compromised,” Alexander Afenyo-Markin queried.

The MP further noted in an interview with CITI FM that the committee should desist from setting a bad precedent in the public’s eye suggesting that Chairman of the Committee, James Klutse Avedzi, who ordered the arrest should have lodged or filed a complaint for due processes to be carried.

“We shouldn’t set a bad precedent. Under criminal jurisprudence, due process is essential, therefore to me, as a matter of law, if there were issues regarding the testimonies, Avedzi should have filed a complaint or go to the police to file a complaint.”

Background

Two finance officers of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) are in police custody following an attempt to mislead the committee during a hearing today.

The offenders, Isaac Akowuah and James Essilfie who are current and former finance officers from the Sefwi Akontombra District Assembly respectively were whisked away to the Parliament Police Station.

Their arrest was ordered by the Chairman of the committee James Klutse Avedzie who believed the behavior put up by these officers was a deliberate attempt to hide some payment vouchers from the committee.

Following an order by PAC, the two officers appeared before the Committee to defend their spending.

But after going through the receipts presented, Mr Klutse Avedzi found out that most of the payment vouchers submitted did not tally with current receipts and they both stated diverse reasons for spending.

The alleged culprits tried offering reasons for the confusion but the displeased chairman would have none of it.