COBWEBS IN GHANA@50 AUDIT REPORT

...Parliament, Finance Ministry blamed for mess

The audited accounts of Ghana@50 Secretariat has recommended that Parliament, the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Committee should be jointly and severally responsible for the financial mess the Secretariat committed during and after the celebrations.The report, which was laid before Parliament last Thursday, specifically faults Parliament for failing to act on the fact that neither the Ministry of Finance nor the Secretariat presented budget estimates in accordance with Constitutional provisions on financial matters and approved amounts of $20 million and $11.8 million for the Secretariat.The result of this act of omission by Parliament was that the Secretariat was left with no option than to spend the amount allotted in accordance with the exigency of the Ghana Golden Jubilee programme.The report for the period, May 2006-December 2008, is a documentation of gross financial irregularities and non-adherence of the Financial Administration Regulation. "Parliament's non-compliance with the Constitution also made it impossible for me to establish the officer in control of and accountable for the use of the funds and whether the funds that were approved used only in accordance with the purpose described as provided in section 14 of the Financial Administration Act, 2003(Act 645) " said the Auditor-General, Mr. Edward Dua Agyeman, who signed the report.Besides, the report said the omissions by Parliament and the Finance Ministry also led to the "Secretariat's financial indiscipline by contracting loans, bank overdrafts, as well as granting facilities to other public institutions contrary to the provisions of the 1992 Constitution.""Finally, Parliament, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, National Planning Committee of Ghana@50 Secretariat should share any improprieties in the decision reached by the Secretariat in the disbursement of any funds in the handling of programmes and projects of the Ghana Golden Jubilee celebration," the Report sums up on this damning note.The Report which has since been referred to the Public Accounts Committee for consideration, disclosed that the National Planning Committee incurred a total expenditure of GHc71.70 million against approved allocation of GHc29.31 million to implement programmes and activities towards the celebration of Ghana's Golden Jubilee and the African Union Conference held in 2007. "This amount exceeded the sum of GHc29.31 allocated by Parliament to the Secretariat by 144.62 percent," it added.Mr. Agyeman therefore recommended that Parliament should amend section 12 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) to prescribe sanctions against a Minister of Finance who will fail to adhere to the provision which demands that "The Minister ( of Finance) is responsible for laying before Parliament for its approval the terms and conditions of a loan or guarantee, the terms and conditions of which are required by the Constitution and by this Act to be laid before, and approved by, a resolution of Parliament".The Ghana@50 Secretariat was established in May 2006 by the National Planning Committee, a Cabinet Sub-Committee, to formulate programmes and activities towards the celebration of Ghana's Golden Jubilee and Africa Union Conference held in 2007. The NPC, which was chaired by Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, the then Chief of Staff, served as the policy decision body with the secretariat as the implementing body. Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby was the Chief Executive of the Secretariat.