An air conditioner service contract worth GH₵2,734.20 mysteriously metamorphosed into GH₵273,420.00, a 2013 report of the Auditor-General has revealed.
Messrs Bu-Tech Services which was contracted by the Registrar-General’s Department to service the department’s air conditioners was expected to have been paid GH₵2,734.20 but ended up being paid GH₵273,420.00.
This means, there was an over payment of GH₵270,685.80.
Bu-Tech, according to the report, had been previously paid GH₵43,474.25 for the year 2013 for repairs and services carried out.
Therefore, the payment of GH₵273,420.00 for the same works could not be justified, argued the Auditor-General in its report.
That aside, the Department was further hit with an over payment of GH₵169,750.00 to Messrs Green Zone Construction Company Limited.
Messrs Green Zone Construction Co. Ltd, according to the report, also carried out constructional works at the Regional office of the Registrar-General’s Department at Tamale and was paid GH¢22,268.00 on cheque No. 1444833 of 19/12/12.
Subsequently, a transfer of GH¢169,750.00 was made to the company but this was not supported by any work done and could not be justified by the Administration.
At the center of this financial loss to the State is the Principal Accountant and Management of the Registrar-General.
The report cited them for sleeping on the job after attributing the situation to poor coordination among management and a lack of supervision of the function and activities of the Principal Accountant.
“The effect had the potential of depleting government coffers of resources which could have been better used to fund other government activities”, the report in part read.
It added “As management failed to justify the overpaid amounts, we recommend that the sum of GH₵440,435.80 should be recovered from the two companies – Bu-Tech Services and Green Zone Construction Company Limited.
Following the recommendation, a total amount of GH₵344,065.80, Kasapafmonline.com learnt, has been paid into the Registrar-General’s account at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), leaving a balance of GH₵96,370.00.
