Management of the Ghana School of Law appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament to answer questions relating to the audited financial statements of the General Legal Council for the two years ending December 31, 2022.
They were hauled before the committee over procurement breaches, delay in the renovation of the Ghana School of Law building. Another infraction cited was the delay in transfer of revenue collections of over GHC1.2 million into Ghana Legal Council’s Bank of Ghana holding account.
Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, James Klutse Avedzi, questioned the managers on why invoices for purchases not beyond GHC5,000 were used to procure items more than 10,000, totaling over GHC320,000.
Director of the Ghana School of Law, Yaw Oppong admitted the breaches and justified the use of sole sourcing and why management went ahead with procurement without approval from the board of the Procurement Authority.
“The violation or infraction came about probably because of inadvertence. We saw how some institutions were charged, so we will urge that we should be forgiven and if there is a repeat, then you can crack the whip,” he pleaded.
The Chairman of the committee, in his response, was emphatic that the managers must be prosecuted.
“There is a body that is court, and they must determine that the plea you are asking for will be forgiven or not. What we can do is to refer you to the court then the court will take its due course. As it stands now, we don’t have the powers to do that on our own,” James Klutse Avedzi stressed.
Also appearing before the committee was the National Commission on Culture whose managers were ordered to make some payment of GHC1 million to the Ghana Tourism Development Fund after using the funds for the 2019 National Festival of Arts and Culture in Koforidua.
The Ghana Tourism Authority also defended expenditure for the Year of Return programmes and the outlook amid the election year. Although an election year, the Authority anticipates raking in excess of $3.8 billion as it targets to welcome 1.3 million tourists this year. It has pegged spend per tourist at $2,930.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Akwasi Agyeman, further disclosed that facilities including Accra International Conference Centre and the National Theatre are undergoing renovation to meet demands and expectations of the numerous event organisers.
Some institutions under the ministries of Transport, Trade and Industry, Works and Housing and Employment and Labour Relations appeared before the committee.
Their leadership responded to infractions as captured in the Auditor General’s Report.
A major concern expressed by the committee was how heads of institutions managed debts, leading to legal debts which ultimately break the national coffers.
One of the highlights of the sitting was the appearance of the Ghana Airports Company Limited.
For more than 14 years, the passenger handling service charge has remained at 5 cedis which the company blames on the delay and poor maintenance works of facilities. It also justified some losses made.
The leadership of the Ministry of Works and Housing was present to speak to the audit report of the State Housing Company Limited and Architectural and Engineering Services Limited whose losses keep increasing over time.
Other institutions, including the Trust Hospital, Economic and Organised Crime Office, Red Cross Society, Nursing and Midwifery Council, Ghana Irrigation Development Authority and the General Legal Council were equally probed on infractions captured in the Auditor General’s Report.
