The District Co-ordinating Director (DCD) and the District Finance Officer (DFO) of the Sefwi Akontombra District Assembly are being investigated by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for alleged fraudulent activities at the Stool Lands office in the district.
The two, whose names are being withheld, are alleged to have opened a bank account in which they lodge cheques they secretly collect from the Stool Lands Administration without the knowledge of the district chief executive.
Already, the DFO and a retired DCD are facing a similar case involving about GHc500,000 and the case docket is with the Attorney-General's office for advice after they had appeared before court.
Expedite action
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, who announced this at a retreat of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) at the Karela Beach and Resort at Beyin in the Jomoro District, therefore, appealed to the A-G's office to expedite action on the docket while urging the security agency to speed up investigation in to the current case.
Transfer
Mr Aidoo, who was visibly distressed by the fraudulent deals, indicated that the DFO had since sought release from the region to elsewhere.
He also took a swipe at the media for their seeming silence over the case, stressing that when the MCE for Sekondi-Takoradi, Capt Anthony Cudjoe (Retd), was said to have taken GH¢30,000 government money for a trip abroad, the media did not spare him, simply because he was a politician.
"A whopping GH¢500,000 has been stolen and the press and the chiefs are not talking about it, but with GH¢30,000 the whole world heard of it. We should all show concern about it." The regional minister also called on the traditional authorities to be up and doing in such matters, especially when it concerned stool lands money which was meant for the development of their respective communities.
Retreat
The three-day retreat, on the theme: "Enhancing Local Development: The Role of the RCC and the MMDAs, will discuss techniques aimed at enhancing integration and participation in promoting local development. He noted that the enhancement of local development led to progress and raised living standards.
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