A committee set up to investigate the alleged financial malfeasance at the Intercity STC Coaches Ltd has come out with a damning report on the company. The report called in to question certain decisions of the management which have threatened the very survival of the company. The committee attributed the alleged financial malfeasance to lack of proper records of receipts and expenditure, lack of transparency and accountability as well as mismanagement of funds. The three-member committee set up by the Minister of Transport, Mike Hammah had Mr. Abu Millah, a financial consultant, the chairman of the committee, assess the company from 2000 till date. One of the six main areas of concern as regarding the issue of malfeasance was lack of proper procurement procedures. The report stated that Intercity STC did not adhere to proper procurement procedures in the purchase of its Eiches buses from SVANI. "There was no written contract between Intercity STC and SVANI Limited for the supply. The company and the third parties should have had contracts signed by the parties in order to safeguard the company from embarrassment and unnecessary litigations”, it stated. It therefore recommended that the managing director at the time, Mr. Adjei Sefa should be made to explain why a major transaction as such did not have a properly signed agreement. The committee explained that the road clearance money meant to facilitate the movement of passengers across the boarders had no proper records of receipt and expenditure. The report added that the practice adopted by the company on foreign exchange transaction lacks transparency and accountability. He said this has given room for corruption which has resulted into a lot of losses for the company. The investigation also indicates that sales of tickets in foreign currencies were converted through black market into cedi. It says the company has suffered from mismanagement of imprest, as all reimbursement did not pass through pre-audit checks before cheques were issued. The report also alleged that payment of the four acres of land that was sold have still not been made. The committee urged the government to put an end to gross misconduct at STC and implement new codes for all activities. They recommended that government should ensure that tickets issued to passengers on international routes should have two parts. "The normal fare and the road clearance fees on the same ticket issued and should have separate bank accounts for normal sales and clearance,“ the report stated. They added that all foreign exchange earnings should be converted through the banking system. An emphasis was laid on the need for a domiciliary account for foreign currency earnings or receipts. The committee also urged government to employ two senior officials to handle procurement and stores to enable proper accounting, store control and the valuation of store items. "The company until 2010 did not have senior officials in charge of procurement and stores. These positions are important for the company's operation. We recommend that those two positions are filled with managers of more senior positions. Besides, a procurement and stores system should be established for proper accounting for all purchases, store control and valuation of stores items," the report stated. Source: B&FT