Tamale: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has referred the management of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) College of Education at Bimbila in the Northern Region to the Attorney General for possible prosecution over financial irregularities involving more than GHS1.3 million.
According to Ghana Web, the referral follows findings from the 2024 Auditor-General's Report, which identified unsupported payments totaling GHS1,356,944. The college management failed to provide adequate documentation to justify several expenditures made during the audit period. These questioned transactions include payments for foodstuffs, building materials for water projects, stationery for publicity activities, and expenses related to an internal review exercise held at a hotel.
At a public hearing in Tamale, Vice Chairman of the PAC, Samuel Atta-Mills, expressed dissatisfaction with the management's inability to provide supporting documents, describing it as a breach of public financial management regulations. He noted that the lack of accountability for such significant expenditures undermines transparency and proper use of public funds. "The infraction is unsupported payments to the tune of GHS1,356,944. We noted that management made payments exceeding one million cedis but could not provide the relevant receipts to authenticate them," he stated.
PAC Chairperson Abena Osei-Asare indicated that institutions found to have violated procurement and financial regulations would face strict sanctions, including referral to the Attorney-General for prosecution. She stressed that the Committee would not hesitate to act where necessary, adding that public funds must be managed with utmost transparency and accountability. "We will not sit and deliberate on procurement breaches; we will refer such cases directly to the Attorney General to take action," she said.
The Finance Officer of the college, Fuseini Osman, explained that the inability to retrieve some receipts was due to challenges in contacting suppliers, some of whom were outside the country or located far from the institution. He added that although some documentation had been provided, auditors raised concerns about timing and validation.
In a related development, the PAC directed the Nanumba South District Assembly to refund GHS19,772 for fuel purchases made without receipts within 30 days. The Committee ordered that the refund be made from the personal funds of the officials involved, rather than from the Assembly's Internally Generated Funds.
The PAC is currently conducting a four-day zonal public hearing in Tamale to examine issues raised in the 2024 Auditor-General's Report. The hearings cover Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies across the Northern, North East, Savannah, Upper East, and Upper West regions.