EOCO probing GHc81,000 Gomoa East funeral expenses – Aquinas

A former Central Regional Minister, Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, has disclosed that the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) has initiated investigations into circumstances that led to the GHS80,000 funeral expenditure on the late Gomoa East District Chief Executive, Isaac Kinglsey Ehun-Armah.

Mr. Tawiah Quansah, who was the regional minister in 2015, and doubled as the acting DCE when the apparently large sum was spent, said he approved the expenditure because it had already been sanctioned by the Assembly.

He told Citi News that “this particular case is under investigations because the Central Region’s EOCO called me for some clarification. They set up a committee and they brought their quantities and eventually, there was a budget overran.”

The current DCE for Gomoa East, Benjamin Otoo, also confirmed that the matter was still being investigated by EOCO.

He said a few officials of the Assembly, under whose tenure the expenditure occurred, have already been questioned by EOCO.

“Some portions are still under investigation by EOCO so we are waiting for the outcome of that and then we’ll be in a better position to say whether the expenditure was justified or not. They invited the then Coordinating Director, the Finance Officer and all those involved in the planning of the programme for questioning. They presented all the necessary documents to EOCO for investigation and at the moment, nobody else has been invited,” he said on Eyewitness News.

It emerged on Tuesday that the Gomoa East District Assembly could not provide full documents to auditors to support the payment of monies back into the state coffers, after over GHc80, 000 was expended from  the Common Fund on the funeral of a former District Chief Executive [DCE] in 2015.

According to the 2015 Auditor General’s report, the budget for the funeral of the late DCE, Kingsley Ahunu-Armah, shot up from an initial GHc9, 000 to more than GHc80,000. The PAC later explained that the initial budget was actually Gh90,000 and not Ghc9,000 as reported earlier, which means the Ghc81,000 was less than the initial budget.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday in Takoradi in the Western Region, Accountant for the Assembly, Ebenezer Mensah, justified the difference in expenditure, and has been asked to provide additional documents.

Later on Eyewitness News however, PAC officials say the disagreements over the expenditure had been settled, adding that, their interest was not to establish whether the amount spent on the funeral was high or not.

PAC scolds MMDAs over financial mismanagement

In February 2018, various state institutions incurred the wrath of the Public Accounts Committee for blatantly flouting the country’s financial regulations.

Members of the PAC raised serious concerns about the continuous mismanagement of resources disbursed to state institutions particularly the Regional Coordinating Councils, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

Members of the PAC raised serious concerns about the continuous mismanagement of resources disbursed to state institutions particularly the Regional Coordinating Councils, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

The PAC, is chaired by Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzie, and members of the committee raised the concern at a sitting in Tamale when they were reviewing the Auditor General’s 2015/2016 report of public institutions.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana

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