The Youth Employment Agency (YEA), has said it will soon publish the full details from its audit into the records of the Agency, during the erstwhile John Mahama administration, its Deputy Director, Mr. Ibrahim Bashiru has said.
According to him, the Agency wants to ensure transparency and accountability in its dealings hence is being meticulous in its audit of the accounts.
[contextly_sidebar id=”6oxhySVI6UwcDWyu25cOeFZb05UQC9pf”]Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Bashiru said the Agency was still undertaking investigations into possible acts of malfeasance under the previous government, and will release the report as soon as it is done.
The Chief Executive of YEA, Justine Kodua Frimpong, at a press conference on Wednesday, announced that YEA has uncovered a GH¢50 million payroll fraud that saw thousands of people being illegitimately paid by the Agency.
He said the amount is an aggregation of unearned allowances wrongfully paid to unposted beneficiaries, funds for official use which were paid into personal accounts, as well as procurements without adherence to due process.
He said some 2,716 beneficiaries did not have appointment letters, while 9,442 beneficiaries were above the age required. Another group of 4,681 beneficiaries, also vacated their post, while 14,443 beneficiaries were simply non-existent. Some 11,512 beneficiaries were also without the assumption of duty letters
The audit report, according to him, revealed situations where the former CEO’s signatures were used without his authority to process payment.
But the former YEA boss, Kobina Obu Obecheem, in a response to the audit report findings, said the dubious transitions did not entirely occur under his watch.
While commending the new administration for the drive to audit the accounts, Mr. Beechem called for the swift prosecution of those found culpable, especially as it was revealed that some persons had forged his signature.
He also called for a detailed account of the audit report findings to be published for the public to have access to it.
“I commend the management for undertaking such an exercise. However, in the interest of fairness and transparency, a detailed signed report from that management conducting the exercise would be very helpful and enable us to comment on the basis of empirical data. I would urge the publication of this report by management,” he added.
‘Suspension of payment’
Meanwhile, Mr. Bashiru has urged all beneficiaries of the programme to exercise restraint as it works to commence paying them their arrears.
He said the Agency has been forced to halt payment to all beneficiaries to allow for the investigations into the records.
He said although they have not paid the beneficiaries since February this year, the Agency needed to address the major problem that would have cost Ghana about GHs20 million.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana