'File On GH�340,000 Payment Can�t Be Traced'

A Senior official of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning yesterday appeared before the Judgement Debt Commission to answer questions in relation to the payment of GH�340,000 land compensation to some unidentified persons in 2010. The Director in charge of External Resource Mobilisation at the Ministry, Mr Kwadwo Awuah-Peasah, told the commission that he could not trace the file for that compensation payment from the ministry�s data base. �I have looked at the data base, but I have not sighted the file,� he said. Therefore, Mr Awuah-Peasah, could not give the names or the number of beneficiaries for that land compensation to the commission. He said the ministry had written to the Controller and Accountant General�s Department, and indicated that the department had also not found the file on the case. Mr Awuah-Peasah said the ministry was now making effort to secure information from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, because the claims originated from that ministry. Agriculture Ministry A representative of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture could not appear before the commission to answer questions in respect of the compensation payment. The case was, therefore, adjourned to June 17, 2014, for the representative to make an appearance. Ministry of Education The Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Mr Enoch Cobbinah, appeared before the commission in respect of compensation claims pending against the ministry and the 19 agencies under it. He presented files on court cases pending against the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET). Mr Cobbinah, who was at the commission with heads and counsels for the various agencies, also presented files of notices of intention to sue some agencies, as well as claims for payment for services rendered to some agencies. The agencies included the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Ghana Book and Development Council, the GES and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). Appeal Mr Cobbinah used that platform to appeal to companies, which had rendered services to the ministry and its agencies, to give them some more time to make payments. He explained that the inability of the ministry and its agencies to pay service providers for work done was because of the delay in cash flows from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. He said the Finance Ministry had said it was working hard to release funds to the Ministry of Education.