PAC orders Trade Fair Company to pay former employees

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has ordered the Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited (GTFC) to pay the salary arrears of its former employees.

The PAC also requested the current Chief Executive Officer of the GTFC, Dr Agnes Adu, to report back to the Committee within two weeks, if it is able to pay or not.

Besides, the PAC also recommended that a forensic audit should be conducted on GTFC to ascertain the financial position of the company.

Mr James Klutse Avedze, Chairman of PAC gave the order when officials of the Company appeared before the PAC to respond to queries raised in the 2016 Audit General’s report about the entity.

Dr Adu stated that during the auditing of the company in 2014, the auditors could not trace the payment vouchers amounting to over GH¢349,000.

She said per the Auditor General's report, the auditors were informed that payment vouchers were stolen from the accountant's office.

Dr Emmanuel Okpoti Konney, former CEO of the GTFC who also appeared before the Committee maintained that payment vouchers were stolen during the burglary of the accountant's office.

He said a formal complaint of the burglary of the accountant's office was made to the La Police who commenced an investigation into the matter.

However, Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Tieku, a former Accountant of GTFC, who also gave evidence at the sitting, disputed the claim of Dr Konney that the accountant's office was burgled and the payment vouchers stolen.

According to him, the office was lawfully broken into by the security man on duty to switch on the air conditioner for the company’s IT Servers.

He insisted that the payment vouchers of the company could be traced in the accountant's office.

James Odoi Brown, a former Auditor of GTFC who also appeared before the Committee stated that he was wrongfully dismissed by the current CEO of the company and the company owed him twenty-one (21) months salary arrears due to the illegal removal from the organisation.

He alleged that Dr Agnes Adu removed him from office in order to bring in his cousin to become the Auditor for the company.