Nine Assemblies overspend by GHC 2.7m, PAC urges control

Nine Assemblies have come under scrutiny for overspending on workshops, fuel, honorarium, and other expenses, surpassing their allocated budgets by GHc 2,706,135.00.

This revelation was made during the Zone Four public hearing of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Takoradi, Western Region, referencing the 2022 Auditor-General’s Report.

The Auditor-General's report highlighted that part one of the 2019 Guidelines

Read full articlefor the utilization of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) stipulates that up to 10 percent of the allocations to the Assemblies should be used for administrative expenditure.

Despite this, the nine Assemblies in question exceeded this threshold, with a total Common Fund allocation of GHc 20,977,699.78, exceeding the allowable 10 percent by GHc 2,097,769.98.

Consequently, the Auditor-General recommended that the management of the nine Assemblies should refund the excess expenditure from their Internal Generated Fund (IGF) accounts into the DACF accounts.

Additionally, the report advised the Assemblies to adhere strictly to the guidelines to avoid future violations.

In response to these findings, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. James Klutse-Avedzi, announced that the Committee would strongly recommend in its final report to Parliament that all expenditures exceeding the required 10 percent for administrative purposes should be rejected on the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform.

This measure, he believes, will help curb the over-utilization of the Common Fund on administrative expenses within the Assemblies and ensure more prudent financial management.