PAC to refer Accountant to AG for prosecution

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says it will refer the Accountant of Esiama Nurses and Midwifery Training College to the Attorney General for prosecution.

The Chairman of the PAC, James Klutse Avedzi, gave the instructions for the referral on Monday, May 13, 2024 during its public sitting in Takoradi, Western Region.

The Accountant, Eric Andoh, will be referred for prosecution for breaching Section 20 of the procurement law when he made purchases to the tune of over GH₵2.3 million for the college.

The unlawful conduct was cited by the Auditor General in its report on the public accounts of Ghana: Colleges of Education and pre-university educational institutions for the financial year that ended on December 31, 2022.

“So you did not observe or follow the procurement law and you purchased goods to the tune of GH₵2.3 million without the use of the procurement law? Clerk, take note that Esiama Nursing and Midwifery Training College is being referred to the Attorney General for prosecution,” the PAC Chairman directed.

BREACH

In paragraph 622 of the 2022 auditor general report, Esiama NMTC was mentioned together with Fijai SHS and Sekondi College for various procurement breaches.

According to the report, Esiama NMTC procured foodstuffs, general goods and computer accessories to the tune of GH₵ 2.339,423.96 without following the procurement law.

Also, Fijai SHS and Sekondi College made procurements that amounted to GH₵ 14,392.00 and GH₵ 55,340.00 respectively, that flouted the same section 20 of the procurement law.

THE LAW

Section 20 of the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 914) states that the procurement entity shall request quotations from as many suppliers or contractors as practicable, but from at least three different sources.

However, the AG report said the three institutions procured goods in 2022 without obtaining alternative quotations.

Put together, the uncompetitive procurement by accountants at Esiama Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Fijai SHS and Sekondi College totalled GH₵2,409,155.96.

Apart from Esiama NMTC, the other two will not be referred to the Attorney General for prosecution because of the amounts involved, according to the PAC chair.

“You are the only person in this trip that we are going to refer to the Attorney General for prosecution. You are the only institution.

“Most of your colleagues adhered to the act, and the infractions in regards to the procurement act reduced drastically. But for this one, we will refer you,” Chairman Avedzi told the Accountant of Esiama NMTC.

BUFFER STOCK

Yesterday’s public hearing also discussed the supply of food items by the National Buffer Stock.

The AG report at paragraph 626 noted that various bags of food supplied by the National Buffer Stock weighed less than 100 or 50 kilograms, as stated on waybills and printed on the sacks.

The schools, according to the report, issued Store Received Advice for the weights stated on the waybills and sacks.

The two schools found culpable were Takoradi SHS and Fijai SHS.

ITEMS

In the case of Takoradi SHS, the school received 106 bags of gari with an average weight of 70kg, instead of the standard weight of 100kg. The school was supplied with 30 bags of maize, which weighed averagely per bag, instead of 100kg.

For Fijai, 203 bags of maize received weighed 73kg averagely per bag, rather than the standard weight of 100kg.

 

Also, 53 bags of groundnuts weighed 75kg averagely, instead of 100kg and 20 bags of soybeans weighed 78kg averagely.

Further, the school received 118 bags of beans with an average weight of 74kg instead of 100 kg which is the standard.

RESPONSE 

The headmaster for Fijai SHS, Kenneth Dotse Agbomadzi, told the committee that they go for the supply at a pickup point without weighing, but detected the shortage when they weighed at their store on campus.

However, he added that following the query by the AG, the school goes to the warehouse with a scale to weigh the items before loading them.

 

 

He described a situation where the school had to deal with the undersupply because when he rejected the supply over the same issue, the items went and never came back “and there was no food to feed the students,” he said.

The headmistress of Takoradi SHS and her accountant, Augustus Ansah Anderson, told the committee that they had written to the National Buffer Stock through a letter to report the undersupply.

The AG had recommended that the schools report the undersupply to “avoid loss of funds” and for their payments to be commensurate with the supply.

Meanwhile, both institutions said their weight has increased, following the complaints, hovering around 90kg and 95kg, but still less than the standard weight of 100kg.