The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has directed S.K Mahama, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Wa East District Assembly, to promptly process payments for pending educational support and development projects requested by Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, the Member of Parliament for Wa East Constituency.
The MP had made the demand for his share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) which the DCE failed to release.
PAC chairman James Klutse Avedzi issued the stern directive during the ongoing 2022 Public Accounts Committee hearing in Sunyani, as the DCE, accompanied by the District Coordinating Director, Finance, and Internal Audit officers, appeared before the Committee on April 22nd, 2024.
It emerged that since January 2022, Dr. Jasaw had submitted numerous letters to the District Assembly, requesting the allocation of funds from the MP’s share of the DACF for the payment of fees for deserving students and the execution of various community development projects in Wa East Constituency.
Des
pite the repeated appeals, the DCE had consistently refused to authorize the expenditures, causing significant hardship to vulnerable students and stalling crucial community initiatives.
The DCE’s justification for his actions, claiming ignorance of the requests and inability to authenticate the letters’ sources, was contradicted by the Coordinating Director during the PAC session.
The Coordinating Director confirmed that the Assembly had indeed received the MP’s requests and forwarded them to the DCE’s office for approval.
Emphasizing the MP’s prerogative in determining the utilization of the MP’s share of the DACF, the Committee Chair reiterated the DCE’s obligation to comply with the MP’s requests.
Additionally, the Committee directed the Assembly to provide quarterly expenditure reports on the MP’s share of the Common Fund to Dr. Jasaw, in accordance with DACF regulations.
The DCE’s failure to facilitate payments to deserving constituents was condemned as a deliberate act of partisanship, detrimental
to the district’s development.
Source: Ghana Web