The Auditor-General of Ghana, Mr. Edward Dua-Agyeman has recommended that Ex-NDC Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mrs. Cecilia Johnson, a former Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund and the African Automobile Company Limited, should be jointly and severally held liable to refund billions of cedis lost to the State as a result of inefficient and dubious procurement practices. The Auditor-General also attributed part of the garbage problem in Accra, Kumasi and other municipalities in the country to these inefficient and dubious procurement practices of the previous government.A routine audit by the Audit Service has revealed that in the latter part of 1999 and early 2000 two separate orders were placed by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for 110 Galloper 4 X 4 Station Wagon from African Automobile Limited with the payment of a deposit of ¢8 billion in two installments. The company delivered only 23 units of the vehicles leaving a balance of 87 units still undelivered.The Ministry also ordered from African Automobile Limited sanitation equipment at a total cost of US$874,000.A deposit of ¢5 billion was paid in two installments as follows. The company had not, as of Wednesday, May 21, 2008, according to the Crusading Guide newspaper, delivered any of the equipment. Part of the conditions of the contract was that African Automobile Limited would give the Ministry a bank guarantee and dollar value of the amount but the company failed to do so.Records show that beginning January 2000, under the NDC government, the company persistently announced several delivery dates but each time it failed to deliver.In early part of the year 2001, the Auditor-General demanded the delivery of the sanitation equipment.The company wrote per its letter to inform the Auditor-General that "the chassis have been assembled and that the superstructures were being built for mounting and shipment and that shipment was expected late in July 2001". "These were all lies, the company did not deliver" quipped a highly-placed source at the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment (MLGRDE), the paper noted. In a letter dated 12 September 2001 addressed to the Honourable Minister of Local Government and copied to the Auditor-General the company stated that the remaining 87 4 X 4 Galloper Station Wagon had been shipped and enclosed a bill of lading of the shipment.A critical scrutiny of the bill of lading by the Auditor-General however, revealed that the consignment stated on the documents were 99 units of Hyundai cars.Earlier on, on January 4, 2001, three (3) days before the NDC’s exit from office, Mrs. Cecilia Johnson, the then Minister of Local Government and Rural Development authorized the former chief director of the ministry to expedite payment of certain expenditure including the sum of us$166,316.95 (¢1,230,745,430) being the balance on the 87 galloper station wagon although they had not been delivered. In view of the persistent delays, the Auditor-General recommended that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development should abrogate the contract for the supply of the vehicles and sanitation equipment and demand a full refund of the ¢ 13 billion paid.The Auditor-General subsequently wrote to the Attorney-General to institute legal action against African Automobile Limited."IF THE THREE 18 TONS SKIP LOADERS AND 60 10 CUBIC METRES SKIP CONTAIN• ERS AND 39,000 LITRES CESSPIT WERE DELIVERED ON TIME IN 2000 THE ACCRA METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY AND ITS COUNTERPARTS IN KUMASI AND ELSE• WHERE COULD HAVE CONTAINED THE GARBAGE MOUNTAIN", articulated the Auditor-General in an interview with this paper.The Auditor-General has since reminded Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and Environment and the Attorney-General to take appropriate steps as a matter of urgency to bring the company to book.Also Mrs. Cecilia Johnson and other officials of the Ministry who made the advance payment, according to the Auditor-General, should be surcharged with the amounts.Source: The Crusading Guide