A series of audit reports by the Audit Service in Accra have exposed the inefficiencies in the performance of Municipal and District Chief Executives (MDCEs) of the Volta Region in the areas of Public Procurement, Financial Administration and Internal Audit Laws. It also listed infractions, omissions and commissions in respect of Store Regulations and Financial Memoranda. As a result there were huge shortfalls in revenue collection due to lack of control on expenditure and irregular disbursements which resulted in excessive over expenditure outside the approved budget. The report also explained that some of the shortfalls were as a result of embezzlement, failure of the public to pay bills, taxes and pocketing of tolls, taxes by collectors. Others are non-adherence to store regulations, unauthorised and excessive dependence on Municipal and District Assemblies Common Fund, non-collection of rent due to central government and the assemblies, non-adherence to work orders procedure for the execution of work by direct labour and failure to recover loans given out to staff of the assemblies and non-staff. These revelations came to light when the Volta Regional Minister, Kofi Dzamesi, addressed the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council. He questioned the competencies of the MDCEs as to whether they were not taking government policies, programmes and interventions for granted? Mr. Dzamesi asked them to go back to school and study laws on public procurement, financial administration and Internal Audit Laws, the Financial Administration, Financial Memoranda and Stores Regulations to silence critics of the government by operating strictly within the laws. "I advise you to put your acts together to ensure that you operate strictly within the laws, rules and regulations so that you can offer an effective leadership and ensure that policies, programmes, interventions and plans of government which are meant to help improve on the quality of life of our people are efficiently executed in your various areas of jurisdiction," he said. "As Chief Executives of various Municipal and Districts, you should be able to talk about our achievements to convince the people that support for any political party should be based on what a party can do and not on mere emotionalism, sentimentalism," he stressed. Source: The Ghanaian Times