Following the revelation that the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has been indicted in the Auditor General’s report for blowing nearly Ghc100,000 on Christmas hampers, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, K.T. Hammond, says like many Ghanaians, he is no longer shocked by the mismanagement of the country’s resources.
PURC, has been indicted in the Auditor General’s report for spending GHc99, 663 on the distribution of Christmas hampers.
[contextly_sidebar id=”1EJyzMknNraQjmXp4GQ4qz8tzBmRmU4v”]According to the report, the amount was expended on such items “during the 2012 Christmas and New Year break.”
Despite the scandalous nature of the revelations, Mr. Hammond, speaking on Citi Eyewitness News, indicated that he was not surprised by the recent occurrences of financial recklessness.
“My system is getting used to this extent of mismanagement of the economy at every level so nothing really shocks me any longer,” the Adansi Asokwa MP stated.
He however remained outraged by the fact that the amount of money was spent on hamper considering the developmental needs of the country and the high tariffs consumers pay for utilities set by the PURC
He also suggested there may be fraud and other criminal elements involved saying, “to some extent you think there is some criminality in it. People collude and do all sorts silly things in the country. I mean, 100,000 cedis for hampers!”
Mr. Hammond acknowledged that government had indeed ordered state institutions to desist from purchasing hampers, adding that Government should have done more to ensure the directive was adhered to.
“Is anybody monitoring this? The PURC guys were appointed by somebody. Is somebody monitoring… Trying to get people to do the right thing, it is those who put them there.”
Financial mismanagement from District Assemblies
The same Auditor’s General report also chronicled instances of financial mismanagement on the part of a number of district assemblies.
According to a 152-page report from the Auditor General submitted to Parliament, 43 assemblies have failed to account for over 1 billion Ghana Cedis.
This follows the failure of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, to pay into their bank accounts revenue collected contrary to part eight Section 31 of the Financial Memorandum which requires same of them.
The assemblies also failed to retire imprests granted for official assignments or provide evidence to support the receipts and utilization of goods and services.
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana