The Public Interest and Accountability
Committee (PIAC) has discovered that oil revenue allocated to three projects in
Upper West and Northern regions might have gone into private pockets as a visit
to the project sites reveal that no such projects exist.The missing
oil-funded projects are: rehabilitation of irrigation dam at Douri in the Jirapa
District of the Upper West Region, rehabilitation of irrigation dam at Nakori in
Wa Municipality, also in the Upper West Region, as well as the construction of
6-unit classroom block at Farikiya Islamic Institute in the Tamale Metropolis of
the Northern Region.
A total amount of GH₵99,196.70 was allocated to the
three projects that PIAC could locate at the project sites.
The projects
in question are funded with proceeds from the Annual Budget Funding Amount
(ABFA) in the Upper West and Northern Regions.
The exposé followed visits
by PIAC to monitor the existence of ABFA-funded projects and progress of work
done as well as state of completion.
An amount of GH₵52,950 was allocated
from the ABFA in 2014 toward the rehabilitation of the irrigation dam at Douri
in the Jirapa District of the Upper West Region.
The rehabilitation of
the irrigation dam at Nakori in Wa Municipality, also in the Upper West Region,
received GH₵15,970 from the ABFA in 2014.
In 2015, an amount of
GH₵30,276.70 was disbursed from the ABFA for the construction of 6-unit
classroom block at Farikiya Islamic Institute in the Tamale Metropolis of the
Northern Region.
Dr Manteaw calls for probe
Dr Steve Manteaw, a
member of PIAC, has, therefore, called on the Auditor-General’s department to
audit all oil-money-funded projects as well as establish value for money in all
the projects.
He said if the Auditor-General confirms that the monies
went into private pockets, the monies should be retrieve and necessary sanctions
meted out to those who misappropriated public resources.
“We need to
decentralize the implementation of projects funded with oil
money.
“Everything is centralised. So, what we found is that at the
regional level and also at the district level, authorities were unaware of that
there were projects being funded with oil money in their
jurisdictions.
“Involving them will make for proper supervision in
ensuring that the work is done to specification,” Dr Manteaw told The Finder on
the sidelines of an Editor’s Liaison organised by Penplusbytes.
It was on
the topic “Amplifying Oil and Gas Issues, Ghana Elections 2016”.
Dr
Manteaw stated that the Finance Minister is supposed to provide update on the
state of implementation of various projects but because he is not providing them
and “we are unable to know whether the projects are being implemented or
not.
“The minister should be called to order to comply with the law,” he
stressed.
PIAC abandon press conference on the loot
A planned
press conference to make the findings public by PIAC was called off at the 11th
hour.
And my information is that the Vice-Chairman, with the support of
the Chairman, preferred that PIAC wrote to the Minister of Finance for a
response to the findings before going public.
The Finder understands
that line of action was consequently taken and the minister was given up to
August 18, 2016 to respond but, as at today, there has been no
response.
Rehabilitation of Irrigation Dam at Douri, Jirapa District
Community members revealed that no work had taken place at the site
since 1998 when a Japanese Grant was released for the construction of the
existing irrigation project.
It came to light that opinion leaders and
local authorities in the community were unaware of the release of funds for the
rehabilitation of the dam, even though GH₵52, 950 of ABFA was earmarked for the
project in 2014.
Rehabilitation of Irrigation Dam at Nakori in Wa
Municipality
It is learnt that the rehabilitation of the dam was being
undertaken by Alhaji Adamu, a local contractor but, since 2006, only a bridge
had been constructed over the dam and two holes which had been dug are yet to
have pipes fixed to convey water through canals for irrigation.
The dam
when completed will be of immense benefit to the community and a sum of
GH₵15,970 from the 2014 ABFA was allocated to for it but the PIAC team was
unable to tell what it was used for.
PIAC is calling on the Ministries of
Finance and Water resources, Works & Housing to provide further information
on the project in order to determine what the funds have been used
for.
Construction of 6-Unit Classroom Block at Farikiya Islamic Institute
in the Tamale Metropolis
According to PIAC, this project, with an
allocation of GH₵30,276.70 from the 2015 ABFA could not be traced in the
school.
Authorities at the school had no knowledge of the allocation of
the cash for the construction of a six-unit classroom block for the school.
According to them, the most recent project undertaken at the school was
a Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) project which was completed in 2014.
Having been unable to identify this project, PIAC called on the
Ministries of Finance and Education to provide further details on this project,
including the date of award of contract, the contractor(s) for the project,
other source(s) of funding for the project and other relevant information to
enable PIAC and the citizenry to trace the whereabouts of the project or the
allocated funds.
3 Other projects visited
The PIAC committee also
found that three projects funded from ABFA were in various stages of completion
but the team was not impressed with some findings.
Construction of
two-storey dormitory block at Zebilla Senior High Technical School
This
project, which began in 2012 by the Ministry of Education, was stalled in 2014
due to lack of funds.
In 2015, the government allocated GH₵85,606.48 of
ABFA to the project in order to resume construction.
During the
committee’s visit, it was found that as beneficiaries, authorities of the School
and the District Assembly did not know about the sources of funding, contracting
process and implementation of project since there was no sign post detailing the
funding and contractor executing the project in accordance with
regulations.
The committee also noted that earlier work on the building
was already showing signs of deterioration, with leakages in some parts of the
roof, a clear sign that the structure would require re-roofing.
Payment
for the Rehabilitation of Science Resource Centre at St. Francis Girls Senior
High School (SHS), Jirapa District
This project was allocated
GH₵44,086.97 from the 2015 ABFA and involved the tiling of the floors,
renovation of the ceilings and painting of the laboratories. The science
resource centre serves St. Francis Girls SHS and five other adjoining Senior
High Schools in the region.
School authorities told the committee that
they had other pressing needs which could have been funded and had they been
consulted in the choice of projects to be undertaken they would have made the
necessary input.
They noted that rehabilitation of the resource centre
without provision of laboratory equipment as well as relevant resources and
other facilities in the laboratories for the learning of science, would be of
little impact.
Payment of Electrical Works for Upgrade of Electrical
Power Supply at Bagabaga College of Education, Tamale Metropolis
This
project, according to the authorities at the Bagabaga College of Education,
became necessary as a result of the low and unstable power supply to the
institution.
An amount ofGH₵248,245was allocated from the 2015 petroleum
funds for the upgrade of electrical power supply.
PIAC found that new
electrical cables had been fixed alongside old cables, a transformer which was
meant to be installed to step up the voltage supplied to the College of
Education was left at the administrative block of the College whilst the school
still suffered unstable power supply.
In addition, the technician, who
conducted the team around the project, could not explain why the transformer was
not installed since the college was not involved in the project
execution.
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