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Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament yesterday, had the shock of their lives, when they were hit with the news by authorities of the School of Public Health of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, that US$5,000 was used to buy two laptop computers in 2008. The laptops, according to the authorities, were purchased for two Research Officers of the institute, Mr. Prince Bonney and Dr. Nii Ayittey Coleman, to undertake a project dubbed: �Fives Alive Project� in the Northern Region. Project Fives Alive was a partnership between the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the National Catholic Health Service (NCHS) that sought to assist and accelerate the attainment of Ghana�s fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing mortality in children Under-5 from an estimated 110 per 1000 live births to less than 40 per 1000 live births (66% decrease) by 2015. It was undertaken in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and other faith-based health services through the application of quality improvement methods. The Project was officially launched in July 2008, in Tamale. It was to be implemented in four consecutive waves till March 2015; however, the programme was terminated by the end of that year, due to unclear reasons. But when confronted by the PAC to give details with documentary proof as to how the above mentioned amount was spent and why it has not been retired in the books of the school, the officials were not forthcoming with the desired answers. The accountant of the school, Israel Mawuli Agbo told the committee that though the computers were bought, the beneficiaries were not forthcoming with the receipts to account for the said amount which was released as accountable imprest. The school authorities had appeared before the PAC, under the Chairmanship of Hon. Kwaku Agyemang Manu, to respond to queries raised by the Auditor-General in his report on the Public Accounts of Ghana for Public Boards, Corporations and other Statutory Institutions, for the year ended December 31, 2010. The Auditor-General in his report had observed that two Research Officers of the School, who were working on a project � Five Alive Project � were given US$2,500.00 each for the purchase of computers, laptops and accessories, but the imprest were not retired as at the end of the 2008 financial year, contrary to the Financial Administration Regulations of the country. The computer and laptops were also not at the school for verification. This situation created the impression that the imprest amount might not have been used in the interest of the school, the report noted. That notwithstanding, the report said the procurement of the laptops also did not pass through the Procurement Committee, as well s the stores of the school to facilitate an effective audit trail. It, therefore, recommended that the Research Officers should immediately be asked to retire the accountable imprest and the two computers, laptops returned and recorded in the Fixed Assets Register of the School, otherwise the amount should be treated as advances and adjusted to the personal accounts of the imprest holders in line with Financial Administration Regulation. It also recommended that subsequent purchases should pass through the Procurement Unit in compliance with the Procurement Act 663 of 2003 and through the stores of the School. Not until yesterday, the school had still not furnished the auditors with the needed response to their queries. PAC probing further on the matter discovered that one of the computers was bought in Louisiana in the United States of America, and wondered why such a thing should occur. To their outmost surprise, the receipt of the laptop was issued in 2011 and bearing the name of a different person from those mentioned above. But authorities of the school, in a sharp response, said the researchers bought the laptop while attending a conference outside the shores of the country. However, with regards to the receipts of the laptops, the beneficiaries for unknown reasons, refused to furnish the school with such documents until 2011. The PAC, not enthused with the explanations of the school authorities said their actions amounted to financial indiscipline since they had the power to deduct the unretired imprest from the salary of the research officers as stipulated in the Financial Administration Regulation. With an interest to probe further on the matter, the PAC requested from the Auditor-General to do a vetting of the receipts and other responses submitted by the school with regard to the above mentioned issue and report to them in one week. They also requested the Auditor-General to contact Mr. Binney and Dr. Coleman who have since left the school and are currently working with the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service respectively, to ascertain the veracity of the matter. Other institutions that appeared before the committee included; School of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, University of Professional Studies, Accra Polytechnic, Ghana Science Association and National Council for Tertiary Education.