A petition submitted to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and President John Dramani Mahama by Assembly Members of Wenchi Municipal Assembly (WMA) in the Brong Ahafo Region has unravelled massive corruption at all levels of the Assembly.
The three-page petition dated Thursday, July 7, 2016 with reference number WYDA041 was copied to the Brong Ahafo Region Minister, Dompemhene of Wenchi Traditional Council, Chairman of Christian Council in Wenchi, Presiding Member of Wenchi Municipality, Brong Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council and Imam Council in Wenchi.
Titled: “Misappropriation of Monies from the Wenchi District Development Facility,” it “alleged that [the] Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Alhaji Habibu Dawuda, Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD), Mrs. Louisa Benon and the Municipal Financial Officer of Wenchi Municipality had on May 5, 2016 authorised the payment of GH¢15,823.61 to Sonamia Consults and GH¢ 44,935.67 to Kavinang Consults, all amounting to GH¢ 60,759.28 without recourse to the Local Government Laws.”
Signed by fifteen (15) Assembly Members, the petition stated that the MCE and the MCD claimed that the payment of GH¢60,759.28 was the cost of the completion of a capacity building training seminar on Local Government Act for assembly members, revenue collectors, heads of departments and unit committee members.
But the petitioners stated that, the said capacity building training programme was never organised.
The petitioners provided documentary proof to back their claim.
For instance, they provided the payment vouchers (PVs) numbers 0632834 and 0632835 which were used to pay Kavinang Company Limited and Sonamia Consults respectively without any work done.
Upon close analysis of the full documents supporting this alleged illegal payment of GH¢ 60,759.28, “we the petitioners see the act of the MCE, MCD and Municipal Financial Officer as worrying and embarrassing that the letter from the Kavinang Consults and Sonamia Consults requesting payment for work done was neither with a reference number nor date yet management proceeded and ordered for full payment to the two companies.”
Furthermore, “…as the Assembly members mandated to ensure that value is placed on any money allocated to the Wenchi Municipal Assembly, we see this act on the part of management as a deliberate attempt to misappropriate funds intended for development in the Wenchi Municipality,” the petitioners said.
Chronicling all major financial scandals within the Assembly, the petitioners revealed that the Assembly also inflated the initial cost of the construction of 1NO. 2 Unit Police Post project at Tromeso within the Municipality from GH¢ 48,450.26 to GH¢ 84,017.41 without recourse to Act 663, 2003.
“Again, management has inflated cost of the construction of 1NO.20 unit open market shares for maize sellers at Wenchi New market from GH¢65,487 to GH¢100, 286.40. It was pathetic to know that the above mentioned projects have not even started,” the petitioners disclosed.
Interestingly, according to the petitioners, management paid 75% of the above projects which cost GH¢93,684.03.
The petitioners accused the MCE of gross disregard of the Assembly’s internal structures.
They noted that the Presiding Member (PM) of the Assembly, Hon. Samuel Mensah, as a result of the conduct of the MCE constituted a committee of enquiry as per Act 462 to investigate the matter.
While awaiting the committee to commence the investigations, the petitioners mentioned that the MCE “secretly called some selected assembly members and government appointees to the Assembly to organise the said seminar to cover up the financial scandal.
“This, to us is a deliberate attempt on his part to cover up his evil deeds. And in so doing he has disregarded part of sub-section 21 (10) of the standing orders of the assembly,” they indicated.
The petitioners pointed out that after the MCE had succeeded in organising the unapproved capacity building workshop, he refused to respect the decision of the Assembly to reconvene a meeting at a subsequent date as was scheduled by the Presiding Member.
They reiterated their earlier call on President Dramani Mahama to sack the MCE and sanction him accordingly.
Meanwhile, several attempts made by Today to get both the MCE and MCD to respond to the allegations leveled against them by the Assembly members in Wenchi Municipality were unsuccessful as their telephone numbers were off at the time of filing this report.
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