Audio By Carbonatix
Last week the SCANDAL carried a banner headline about how monies accruing from the sale of government’s assets had not been paid into the Consolidated Fund in line the Financial Administration Regulations.
The story said that there was an outstanding balance of GHc8.3m from the sale of seven State Enterprises that had not yet been paid and that some of these monies have been outstanding since 2010 (check 2010 & 2011 Auditor General’s Reports).
In the 2010 Report, the Auditor-General raised this matter of the outstanding balance and charged the Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) to ensure that the right thing was done.
In the 2011 Auditor-General’s Report which is currently before Parliament, the matter of the outstanding balance has still not been resolved. According to the Report even a sum of Ghc 4,050,000 which was paid by the Zoomlion for the purchase of Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Company Limited as far back as 2010 has not been deposited into the consolidated account.
Our information is that in the 2012 Auditor General’s Report which is yet to be presented to Parliament, this matter has still not been resolved and that a large portion of these monies remain unaccounted for. While we are careful not to accuse anyone of diverting these monies there are pertinent questions on this matter that need answers.
1. Did the buyers of these assets pay for them? 2. If they did then where are the monies currently lodged and why? 3. If the buyers have not yet paid for the assets is there a time limit within which they are expected pay? 4. How are the outstanding debts been treated; as loans or as grants to the buyers? 5. Have the buyers taken possession of the assets?
It has been a week now since we raised these questions and have received no answers. Not from the Divestiture Committee, nor the Ministry of Finance. What is even more disturbing is the lackadaisical manner with which the Ghanaian media treated the story. Some Radio and Television presenters just read the headline in passing and dropped the paper- no commentary, no follow up. Others did not find it worth mentioning on their networks.GHc8.3m of the State’s money cannot be traced; The Auditor General has raised this matter in at least two of its annual reports and presented to our Parliament and yet there are no answers. Nobody is accountable, nobody feels responsible. We are just moving on and minding our own business as though GHc8.3m is nothing and can as well get lost.
This is happening at a time when our mothers, sisters and children fetch water from gutters, open drains and little ponds across the country. This is happening at a time when in parts of this country children still sit under trees to learn. This is happening at a time when doctors are on strike over conditions of service and pharmacists are threatening more strikes with their attendant deaths of ordinary citizens.
We know that the people who ought to give us answers and take action on these matters do not suffer the predicaments mentioned above. For them and their friends GHc8.3m may be a little change and it does not matter where that change is. But for some of us, it is our inheritance, our right and money could come in handy to ease the burden of a mother or a child. And we ask again
“WHERE IS THE MONEY?"
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