The Auditor General (AG), Mr Domelevo has directed management of The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, to refund a total amount of GH¢2,094,002.07, to the state and it into the Consolidated Fund Account.
This was after the Auditor-General uncovered that the amount which was part of the Internally Generated Fund (IGF), of the centre, was not paid into the Consolidated Fund Account as required by law.
Rather, the management of the centre had used the money for its operations without the approval by Parliament.
But the management said it was justified to use the money to run the operations of the ICT Centre on grounds that it did have adequate budgetary allocation from the state.
According to the A-G, Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo, records showed that out of a total IGF of GH¢2,494,002.07 collected between January and December 2017, GH¢400,000.00 representing 16 per cent was only paid to the State coffers while GH¢2,094,002.07 representing 84 per cent was retained and utilised without seeking Parliamentary approval.
From the foregoing, the Mr Domelevo in his 2018 Auditor General Report submitted to Parliament in June this year, advised management to desist from the use of IGF without Parliamentary approval in the future.
Regulation 22 of the Financial Administration Regulations, 2004, states that all public moneys collected shall be paid in gross into the Public Funds Accounts and no disbursement shall be made from the moneys collected except as provided by an enactment.
Any person who makes payment from moneys collected in contravention of sub regulation (1) was in breach of financial discipline as defined in Regulation 8 (1).
The Auditor-General’s annual report covered the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 has been prepared under Section 11 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 for presentation to Parliament in accordance with Section 20 of the Act.
Article 187(2) of the 1992 Constitution empowers the Auditor-General to carry out the audit of the Public Accounts of Ghana of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and to report thereon to Parliament.
BY TIMES REPORTER
