The Jaman South Municipal Assembly in the Bono Region on Thursday received commendation from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), for completing abandoned projects initiated by previous governments since 2006.
The projects, which are currently in use, included school blocks, Community Health Planning Systems (CHPS) Compounds, court buildings and office complexes.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Jaman South, Andrews Bediako, announced this when he took his turn at the Committee hearing in Sunyani.
The MCE indicated that he decided to complete abandoned projects because of its strategic importance to the people in the area.
Mr Bediako said he took a flak from his own ‘party people’ for not initiating new projects under the current administration.
He said, despite the criticism, he completed abandoned projects, “bearing in mind that there must be a paradigm shift from the norm so as to achieve value for money for investment being made with the country’s resources.”
Auditors at the committee sitting confirmed the MCE’s claim, and praised him for taking a nationalistic decision to completed abandoned projects in the municipality.
The Chairman of PAC, Dr James Klutse Avedzi, said “if every government would emulate what the MCE had done the country would benefit enormously.”
He called on other Assemblies across the country to emulate Mr Gyeabour, to ensure value for money for projects.
The committee was, however, not pleased with officials of the Asunafo South Municipal Assembly for spending over GH¢200,000 after collecting GH¢15,000 as revenue.
The amount was spent on salaries for 13 revenue collectors for the Assembly.
The Finance officer for Asunafo South Assembly, Mr Alidu Yakubu Abubakha, told the committee that the assembly has reassigned the 13 revenue collectors upon realising that they were not living up to expectation.
He said the assembly had recruited commissioned revenue collectors as the permanent staff were underperforming.
The commendation for the DCE is significant because it comes after the order by PAC to security agencies to apprehend some persons for various offences as reported by the Auditor General.
The PAC has ordered the arrest of Isha Mokoanu, a contractor at Wenchi, for failing to supply conference table and 50 chairs to the Tain District Assembly in the Bono Region.
Dr Avedzi called on the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) to apprehend the contractor, at the committee’s sitting at Sunyani.
The PAC at an earlier sitting at Sunyani referred the Principal of Sefwi-Wiaso College of Education in the Western North Region, Dr Emmanuel Carsarmmer, to the Attorney-General Department for prosecution on alleged procurement breaches.
The College of Education had procured goods and services amounting to GH¢276,872 without going through the procurement process, which was in violation of the Public Procurement Act.
The PAC hearing at Sunyani was to attend to infractions committed by the technical universities and colleges of education as captured in the 2021 Auditor General’s report.
It was also to ascertain whether entities covered by the Auditor General’s report have responded to its recommendations and that of the committee
FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH SUNYANI
