Widespread corruption in some district assemblies; Two committees recommend reposting of personnel
Two committees constituted by the Head of the Local Government Service (LGS), Dr Callistus Mahama, to investigate alleged malfeasance in some district assemblies have recommended mass re-posting of the personnel of the assemblies.
This is as a result of confirmed widespread corruption in the assemblies.
The assemblies that were investigated were Tano North, Tano South, Wenchi, Asunafo North, Jaman South, Techiman North, all in the Brong Ahafo Region, and Ketu South in the Volta Region.
Copies of the completed reports containing the confessions of some of the personnel and the recommendations to stem the trend were intercepted by the Daily Graphic.
The offences investigated were illegal recruitment, back-dating of assumption of duty for salary claims, forging of the signatures of officers of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), and falsification of RCC letterheads, among other fraudulent activities.
Precursor
The committees came on the heels of alleged corruption and misconduct at the assemblies. The two committees, instituted in the Brong Ahafo and Volta regions, were charged to investigate and submit recommendations to the Head of the LGS within 14 days of their inauguration.
Tano North Assembly
The Personnel Officer of the Tano North District Assembly, Mr Sekyere Botah, according to the report, illegally recruited 17 people into various positions in 2013.
He also backdated their salaries for 15 months between March and May 2012 respectively.
"All the illegal recruits said Mr Botah followed them to the bank, collected all the arrears paid them, on the pretext of paying same into government chest. Total arrears ranged from GH¢3,500 to GH¢5,000 per person," the report stated.
Unfortunately, Mr Botah, described by the committee as the main architect in the illegal recruitment and promotion of staff, passed on after being interrogated by the Head of the LGS early this year.
Banda
In 2012, the Banda District Assembly, one of the newly created districts, was authorised by the LGS to recruit 10 officials to enhance its human resource.
An Assistant Director, Mr Joseph Obeng, according to the report, however, illegally recruited seven additional officers and managed to put their names on the government payroll.
"Again, Mr Obeng forged the name and the signature of an officer, Mr Ashong Daniel of the RCC, and subsequently posted the illegally recruited officers to other districts.
Wenchi
Mr John Nyarko of the Wenchi Assembly confessed to illegally recruiting 10 officers and putting their names on the government payroll.
The recruits were hired at a business centre and their documents sent directly to the Controller and Accountant-General's Department.
According to the report, one Mr Lukeman Bukari, a staff memeber of the payroll master, facilitated the processing of the documents, which did not pass through the payroll processing section at the LGS, as was required.
Currently, the 10 illegal officers and Mr Nyarko have been interdicted by the Head of LGS.
Asunafo North
A Principal Accounts Technician at the Asunafo North Municipal Assembly, Mr Richard Oppong, according to the report, admitted to mechanising three revenue collectors without authorisation.
"He also admitted that he single-handedly executed the plan by completing the PPS forms in his house and signing as the preparing officer," the report stated.
Additionally, Mr Oppong also forged the signature of the Municipal Coordinating Director, Mr Victor Sabog Moore, on the new entrant forms and prepared and signed the establishment warrants for all the three.
He also deleted the names of Mr Samuel Gyimah, Mr Alexander Yeboah and Mr Martin Tabari from the legally recruited list and replaced them with his illegal recruits: Esther Gyamfi, Augustina Owusu and Rita Boakye.
Ketu South
Here, the Coordinating Director, Mr Godwin Dzansie, and an Assistant Director, Mr Simon Kwaku Goka, were found to have illegally recruited four people and pocketed their salary arrears of GH¢6,700.
Members of the committee recommended a reduction in rank for Mr Goka, now Assistant Director IIA, to Assistant Director IIB, or be reposted out of the region or the Volta RCC and put under strict supervision.
The committee, chaired by Mr Nat King Tackie, recommended a demotion of Mr Dzansie from coordinating director to director.
Sanctions
The committees were, according to their terms of reference, to investigate the many allegations of illegal recruitment within the assemblies, identify the perpetrators and their network, the current weaknesses in the human resource management system in the LGS and make appropriate recommendations to the head of the service.
A source close to the Head of the Civil Service, however, hinted that the service would dismiss all the officers mentioned in the report and hand them over to the appropriate security agencies.
Already, some of the officers have been handed over to the BNI.
The source further indicated that the Head of the Civil Service was of the view that transferring them was not deterrent enough and that those officers must be made to face the full rigours of the law.
Other assemblies
The committee found nothing incriminating at the Techiman North and Jaman South district assemblies.
