Tamale North Member of Parliament Alhassan Suhuyini has said he has problems with the decision of the justices who have been captured in the Auditor General’s report for ‘unlawful’ purchase of cars.

He wondered whether the Justices need those cars given the condition of service they enjoy.

The 2021 Auditor General’s Report noted that between 2016 and 2021, the Judicial Service granted loans to 99 officers totalling GH¢303,709.94 and recovered a total amount of GH¢145,006.58 leaving an outstanding amount of GH¢158,703.36 as at 31 December 2021. 728.

“We recommended that the Judicial Secretary should liaise with the Controller and Accountant General to have the loans deducted from the salaries of the staff involved. Auction of official vehicles without authority – GH¢1,023,507.00 729,” it said.

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Regulation 158 of Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378) states that, the Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity shall obtain the prior written approval of the Minister for the transfer, exchange, sale, donation, contribution-in-kind, trust and any other disposal of any vehicles of the covered entity.

Report_of_the_Auditor-General_on_the_Public_Accounts_of_Ghana_-_Ministries,_Departments_and_other_Agencies_for_the_year_ended_31_December_2021

Also, Regulation 158 states that, any disposal, lease and other action referred to in Sub-regulation 1 that is made without the written approval of the Minister, is void. 730.

Our examination of records of the Transport Unit for 2021 revealed that 19 official vehicles were auctioned by the Service for GH¢1,023,507.96 without approval from the Minister of Finance.

“In the absence of approval from the Minister for Finance, we recommended that the auction should be nullified, and the vehicles recovered,” the report said.

Commenting on this development on TV3’s New Day show with Johnnie Hughes on Wednesday August 31, Suhuyini said he has problem with the procedure for the purchase of the vehicles.

“It is important that the justices themselves also exercise judgement that do not contribute to the negative image of the judiciary,” he said.

He added “I was trying to link the need to make the offer to this justices or the justices themselves to apply for the cars given the conditions of service they enjoy.

“I have a problem with the procedure and have problem with the judgement of the judges in accepting the offer.”

By Laud Nartey|editors.3news.com|Ghana