Former District Chief Executive in Bawku, Abdulai Abanga has described as a duplication and waste of resources the President's call for accounts of District Assemblies to be audited. The President John Evans Atta Mills last week ordered investigations into accounts of the assemblies, following alleged reports of massive indebtedness. He fears the total indebtedness could run into some GH¢110 million- GH¢180 million. Head of Communication at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho had in an interview put the state of indebtedness of the Tain district, created only five years ago, to the tune of GH¢1.6 million. Officials at the local government ministry have thus began a forensic audit of the accounts from 2001-2009. In an interview with Joy News, Abdulai Abanga argued the Auditor General as part of his constitutional mandate, audited all accounts of the District Assemblies and submitted his report to Parliament. He was surprised the President would side step the audits of the statutory institution and order another investigation into all the accounts. He said if there is adequate suspicion that certain districts might have misappropriated funds, the president would have been right in subjecting that specific districts to an audit, rather than a ‘wholesale’ investigation. He said debts will always remain with the assemblies as long as they engage in developmental activities. He would not be surprised if the ongoing audit is finalized with reports of some indebtedness. However some other former DCE’s have hailed the president’s initiative saying they will be cleared of all allegations of malfeasance. They have asked that the final report of the audit be made public. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana