Dead Man Blamed For Lack Of Accounts

More than GH�780,000 allocated to the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council for the Ghana@50 celebrations cannot be accounted for. Samuel Okyere Kusi Appiah, acting Co-ordinator of the Region told commissioners on the fourth-day of the Ghana@50 probe commission's public hearing on Tuesday that the storekeeper who handled the accounts for the celebration had died. Mr Taylor allegedly passed away in March 2008. According to Joy News correspondent, Samson Lardi Ayenini, the coordinator said not all the GH�400,000 allocated for the construction of the Kumasi Jubilee Park was used, but he could not tell what the surplus money was used for as there were no records available to track how the money was dispensed. In addition, proceeds from the sale of some 2,000 wax prints and other souvenirs issued to the region for the celebration cannot be accounted for. Mr. Appiah explained that most of the souvenirs were given out for free to chiefs, party functionaries and other stake holders. Justice Isaac Duose, Chairman of the Ghana@50 probe Commission, chided Mr Appiah for the poor job in gathering the relevant information before appearing before the commission. He has subsequently subpoenaed E.Y. Kwarteng who handed over to Mr. Appiah to appear before the commission.