Okere assembly receives excavator on Paper, but can’t be physically traced

An Excavator allocated on paper to the Okere District Assembly in 2019 cannot be found physically, raising concerns of possible loss or diversion.

The said Excavator, with registration number GE 3286-15 was allocated to the Okere District Assembly, together with a motor grader by the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD).

Though the grader, which was also allocated on paper to the Okere Assembly, has been found physically, the same assembly says they have not received the Excavator.

The Assembly could not produce the Excavator during the assets verification by the Auditor General.

A letter dated September 9, 2019 informed the Assembly of the allocation of the Excavator and a September 10, 2019 letter signed on behalf of the Okere District Assembly by the Deputy Coordinating Director, Kofi Asare Yeboah, acknowledged receipt.

The vehicle type is Excavator PC 220-8, whose chassis number is KMPTC181HEC085623, with the registration GE 3286-15 and is yellow in colour.

DISAGREEMENT

The assembly has said that though the Excavator was allocated to them, it was not released.

The issue is contained in paragraph 429 of the Auditor General report on the accounts of district assemblies for the year ending December 31, 2022.

In the report, which has been submitted to Parliament, the Auditor General said it disagreed with the response of the Okere District Assembly that though the Excavator was allocated to the Assembly, the same was not released to the Assembly.

The auditor based its disagreement on the September 9 and 10 letters between the ministry and the Deputy Coordinating Director of the Assembly, Kofi Asare Yeboah.

“This could lead to the loss of the Excavator to the Assembly and the resultant loss of funds to the state,” the AG wrote in its report.

“We recommended to Management to follow-up and produce the excavator for our inspection to prevent any loss or diversion, failure of which the Deputy Director who acknowledged receipt on behalf of the Assembly should be held liable for refund of its cost at the prevailing market price,” the AG added.

PAC

At its public hearing on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 in Ho, Volta Region, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) interrogated the issue but could not exhaust it.

The management of the Okere District Assembly took its turn to respond to queries in the AG report, including the alleged missing Excavator.

A member of the PAC, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor referred to paragraph 429 of the AG report and concluded by asking, “Now where is the Excavator?”

The Okere District Chief Executive, Daniel Addo Kenneth, explained to the Committee that the Deputy Director, who was then the transport officer, was assigned to go and receive the two equipment—the Excavator and the motor grader.

He indicated that the assembly was told to receive the motor grader at the free zones yard and the excavator at Asamakese in the West Akim district.

“Hon. We received the grader and took possession of it. We did not receive the Excavator,” the DCE said, adding that they showed the auditor’s document to prove their case.

He explained that they had written to the MLGDRD director of transport that the assembly did not receive the Excavator, but nothing had been heard about it, though the director of transport at the ministry promised to work on it.

RECEIPT

The Chairman of the PAC, James KlutseAvedzi, asked the auditors for evidence that the Deputy Director of the Assembly received the Excavator. He asked whether the assembly’s letter was not to acknowledge receipt of the ministry’s letter informing the assembly of the allocation.

The AG responding to the PAC chairman said that the assembly did not sign a different letter to receive the motor grader; “that is why we were trying to follow up” on the excavator.

The DCE explained that at the free zones, the assembly signed for the receipt of the grader, but at Asamankese, they did not sign because the excavator was not received. However, the assembly wrote to the ministry that it did not receive the excavator.

“This excavator definitely must be somewhere. This is registered. What we can do is go to DVLA and find out in whose name this excavator is registered,” Chairman Avedzi stated.

Meanwhile, Nana Agyei Boateng, a member of the PAC, who was the deputy minister for MLGDRD at the time, offered an explanation.

He said the equipment allocated at the time were graders and Payloaders, and an allocation letter with a list of all beneficiary assemblies was prepared with the type of equipment for each assembly.

“So, I don’t know about your case of an excavator. But I think that to be able to address this problem, we need to go to the ministry and look at the source document that was used in allocating the equipment to the assemblies,” he added.