The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament has directed the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Wa East, Dr. Mahama Sulemani Kandia Edwurah to immediately process payments of pending educational support and development projects requests from the Member of Parliament for Wa East Constituency, Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, from the MP’s share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).
The DCE, together with the District Coordinating Director, District Finance Officer and Internal Auditor appeared before the PAC on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Sunyani.
Chairman of the PAC, James Klutse Avedzie raised concern about the failure of the DCE to process payments of pending educational support and development project requests from the Member of Parliament, from the MP’s share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) for several months.
The Member of Parliament in an earlier interview with Info Radio disclosed that he had since September 2023, issued about 34 letters to the District Assembly for payment of fees, rehabilitation of schools, and drilling of boreholes among others for various communities in the constituency but the DCE has declined payments without any justified reason.
The DCE indicated before the committee that the MP’s request letters have not come to his attention. He, however, explained that he turned away some individuals who made a follow-up to his office because he could not verify the source of such letters.
“Honorable Chair, please, like I said I haven’t seen them [letters] on my table. So normally things of that nature, if anything just like you said they will surely come to my table.”
He added, “I think I only gotten what the MP sent to me electronically through WhatsApp.”
But the District Coordinating Director, Musah Yussif, confirmed that the assembly had received request letters from the Member of Parliament and forwarded the same to the DCE’s office for action.
The PAC Chairman unsatisfied with the DCE’s responses, instructed him to act immediately on the MP’s request letters.
“All MMDCE’s take this thing from us that the letters from the MP are not requesting you to approve the expenditure. They are only informing you to incur the expenditure from that account.”
“You are not to approve it; it is not for you to approve it. The MP is to tell you that spend this money on this and yours is to comply. When you go back, call for all those letters and work on them,” he added.
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