Chairman admonishes Finance Director of Sekyere South Assembly

Wednesday, September 26, 2009 (Page 3)
THE Finance Director of the Sekyere South District Assembly, Mr Adams Mohammed, was yesterday admonished by the Chairman of the Ghana@50 Presidential Commission for defending the assembly’s failure to pay its debts to the Ghana@50 Secretariat.
Mr Mohammed had told the commission investigating the Ghana@50 Celebrations that the assembly was not given a deadline for the payment of anniversary souvenirs handed over to it by the secretariat.
According to him, there was no time bound and therefore the assembly could have taken as long as 200 years to pay back but the Chairman of the commission, Mr Justice Isaac Duose, did not take kindly to that and called Mr Mohammed to order.
Mr Mohammed was in his element and was justifying why the assembly had not accounted back to the secretariat but Mr Justice Duose cut in and stated “stop the nonsense. This is an immoral stand. You are not showing good moral standing at all. Now answer the question on a better note.”
At that moment, Mr Mohammed thanked the Chairman of the commission for putting him back on track and continued that the assembly received 11,952 pieces of mathematical sets instead of the expected 12,000 pieces.
He also told the commission, which has Mr Osei Tutu Prempeh and Mrs Marietta Brew-Oppong as members, that persons who sold anniversary souvenirs on behalf of the assembly owed the assembly GH¢4,500.
Asked if the assembly had made efforts to retrieve its money, Mr Mohammed indicated that the assembly did not receive positive response from its debtors although it threatened to take legal action.
According to him, the debtors were currently making efforts to pay back moneys owed the assembly because they did not want to face the wrath of the commission.
He said the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) had deducted GH¢45,427 from the assembly’s accounts but informed the commission that he had not made efforts to query why that amount was deducted.
Mr Prempeh then advised him to take steps to ensure that things were done properly from now on.
For his part, the District Co-ordinating Director of the Sekyere South District Assembly, Mr Nicholas Kumi-Achiaw, told the commission that the District Chief Executive and the District Director of Education took delivery of 10,749 mathematical sets for distribution to various schools.
He said the establishment of the commission had come at the right time and expressed the hope that policies would be developed out of the commission’s recommendations to serve as a guideline for the future.
The District Co-ordinating Director of the Kintampo South District Assembly, Mr Abdul Paul Kant, said agents who sold souvenirs on behalf of the assembly had initially been recalcitrant in paying back but stated that they were now coming forward as a result of the setting up of the Presidential Commission.
He gave the assurance that monies owed by the agents would be paid and further indicated that the assembly knew the whereabouts of the debtors.
Mr Kant also indicated that the souvenirs arrived late and stated for instance that the anniversary cloths arrived on March 20, 2007 (14 days after the celebration of Ghana’s 50th independence).
Mr Prempeh commended Mr Kant for giving a detailed account on how the money was expended.
Asked to suggest ways to improve administration at the district level, Mr Kant suggested that the Head of Civil Service must take keen interest in re-training staff in proper record keeping.
He also suggested that civil servants must act professionally while politicians and civil servants must respect each other’s role.
Mr Kant further suggested that district directors must be allowed to play more active roles in the running of district assemblies.
For his part, the Kwabre East District Director of Education, Mr Kwasi Atakorah, said GH¢6,416 was realised from the sale of anniversary souvenirs and that the money had been lodged into the assembly’s account.
He said the assembly received 4,080 pieces of calendars and 60,000 pieces of cups as a result of which GH¢61,576 was deducted from the district’s share of the DACF.
According to Mr Atakorah, the district began utilising the GH¢6,416 when it realised that the DACF Secretariat had deducted monies from its accounts.
He told the commission that he was aware the district was expected to account to the Ghana@50 Secretariat but was currently waiting for direct correspondence from the secretariat.