Kennedy Kankam did no wrong with common fund; KMA answered audit queries

Former Nhyiaeso Member of Parliament Kennedy Kwasi Kankam has no case to answer neither has he done any wrong according to the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei Mensah.

Speaking to reporters in Kumasi over allegations that Kennedy Kankam had misapplied his Member of Parliament (MP) common fund, the Regional Minister said that no audit report had indicted the former Nhyiaeso MP.

Kankam served as MP for Nhyiaeso in Kumasi from January 7, 2017 to January 6, 2021. He replaced Dr Richard Anane who had been representing the people of the area since 1997.

Some media reports had suggested Mr Kennedy Kankam during his tenure as Nhyiaeso MP had misapplied his common fund by giving it out as loans to some constituents.

The reports said an audit report had allegedly indicted him and recommended that he refunds GH¢500,000.

However, Mr Kennedy Kankam has debunked the allegation and said due process was followed and all the disbursements to the loan beneficiaries were above board. He presented a series of letters and documents to prove his case.

"I have personally served as an MP for 12 years and as such I am very conversant with the guidelines and processes of utilizing the common fund," the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Osei Mensah jumping to the defence of Mr Kankam told reporters.

"If an MP wants to use his common fund for an activity, he will first apply to the Chief Executive indicating the activity he wants to apply his fund to. The Chief Executive will then examine the request against the guidelines and if they are satisfied, give approval before disbursement or otherwise. No MP can access his common fund without the approval of the Chief Executive of the particular assembly. It is simply not possible," he added.

The current acting Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive, Mr Osei Assibey Antwi on his part has said the former MP has not been involved in anything illegal.

"There is nothing illegal in the disbursement of the funds. What the auditors brought to us was the management letter. It only raises concerns and we had a month to reply. It is not an audit report and cannot be referred to as such. I don’t even know how this management letter got out. There is no ambiguity about the MP's spending. Nobody gave him money in his hands to go and spend it. He made a request for repayable loans. So the money was paid to the bank and the bank administered the disbursement. There is no malfeasance involved and all the queries they raised, the assembly has answers for them. Kennedy has not committed any crime," Mr Osei Assibey Antwi said.

Mr Kennedy Kankam’s name has come up as one of the nominees likely to be appointed as the next mayor of Kumasi.

He was the Convenor of the group, Aspirant’s Unite For Victory, which was made up of parliamentary aspirants who could not win the mandate of NPP delegates to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections on the ticket of the NPP but mobilised themselves to campaign in support various NPP candidates for the 2020 elections.