Some officials of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), have admitted culpability in the malfeasance involving the public auctioning off some 24 vehicles belonging to the Ministry between 2011 and 2013, as captured in the 2015 Auditor General’s report.
According to that document, the cars were sold off without payment to the appropriate accounts.
[contextly_sidebar id=”LjzCrJd1gmwAzNfz9dK579XfrEznzFXp”]The officials who were grilled by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), on Wednesday, pleaded for a mere caution, explaining that the current Directors of the Ministry were not in charge during the period of the malfeasance.
The acting Chief Director, Benjamin Gyasi, explained that “these issues happened between 2011 and 2013, when I wasn’t the director. But even at that time, we had a deputy Director who was handling these issues, and he is also on retirement now, so it becomes difficult when issues that happened in the past are loaded on someone who wasn’t part.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Gyasi assured that, since that audit, the Ministry has ensured that its affairs are now clean and in order.
“… I have evidence to show that in my time, from 2014 to date, we have done the right thing and we have evidence here to show, so we are not here to argue on what is in the past, but we are coming to plead by saying that we have done the right thing to date,” he stated.
Auctioneer reserved vehicles for staff, failed to advertise auction
The auctioneer, Alex Agyei, was also indicted by the Auditor General’s report, and he all but confessed that he auctioned the 24 vehicles without recourse to laid down process when he appeared before the committee.
The Auditor’s report indicated that, the 24 vehicles were reserved and sold to MoFA staff, according to the auctioneer, who added that the prices at which they were to be sold were laid down before he commenced the auction.
The report also noted that, of all the auctions, only one, in Ho, was advertised in the national dailies. It also emerged that the Ho auction even took place before the advert was placed.
Alex Agyei, a licensed auctioneer since 2007, said he had also overseen some auctions at about five other Ministries, including the Ministry of Justice, before the Agriculture Ministry.
As the questions came in from the committee, he couldn’t muster a coherent answer fumbling between denial and stopping short admitting to the charge by the report.
After skirting the queries, centering on his failure to advertise the auctions as mandated, Alex Adjei said “for these particular actions, from 2011 to 2013, my subordinate had been doing the publications on my behalf and we had some confrontation with him…”
He eventually resorted to pleading, interspersed with chuckles, saying, “since that time all these things came to the fore, I have changed the whole process so whatever I have done in the past should be forgiven.”
In response to this, the PAC Chairman, James Avedzi noted that “you may be laughing now, but at the appropriate time, you wont be laughing.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana