Three Embassies squander ?72 billion

The Evening News says an amount of ?72 billion was misappropriated and embezzled in three Ghanaian missions abroad between 1996 and 1998.

Information filtering in from across the borders of the country, according to the paper, indicates that a total of 30,343,545 CFA was embezzled at the Lome Embassy, ?28,456 in London whilst rent arrears of 17,120,000 CFA could not be accounted for at the Ghana Mission in Mali.

At the Lome Mission, an accounts officer misappropriated the said amount and made under-payments of 80,000 CFA to Ghana between April 1996 and May 1997.

In London, a local staff at the passport and immigration section in the Mission falsified and duplicated copies and embezzled revenue amounting to ?28,450 between September 1995 and July 1996.

The Head of London Mission, between November 1998 and May 1999 increased telephone expenses in the residency to ?5,321.89, which was settled in full by the Mission. Since the head is entitled to ?450 per month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has to recover the excess of ?2,621.89.

An amount of 250,000 CFA was overpaid as rehabilitation fee at the Ghana Mission in Burkina Faso. The bill supporting repayment of rehabilitation of the residence swimming pool totaled 292,600 CFA and not 542,600 CFA, which was fraudulently posted.

Back home six institutions have left the Accra International Conference Centre indebted to the tune of ?870,315,000.

They are: Parliament, ?858,050,000, Panafest Secretariat ?3,400,000, PAWA ?3,450,000, Ministry of Tourism ?2,900,000, State Protocol Department ?1,500,000 and Charismatic Churches ?1,015,000.