Mr. Daniel Oteng, an Accounts Clerk of T.I Ahmadiyya Senior High School (SHS) in the Ashanti Region, has been cited in the Auditor-General’s Report, for embezzling GH¢314,173.00, belonging to the school.
The report indicated that Mr. Oteng obtained a Bank of Ghana (BOG) stamp, and code of the school’s bank account, which allowed him entry into the account, and altered figures on the bank statement.
The 2016 Report of the Auditor-General on pre-university educational institutions, signed by Daniel Yaw Domelevo, the Auditor-General, copied the Speaker of Parliament, recommended that management of the school should recover the amount with interest at the prevailing bank rate from Mr. Oteng, and disciplinary action taken against him.
“We recommend that management should recover the amount with interest at the prevailing bank rate from Mr. Daniel Oteng into the school’s accounts and disciplinary action taken against him,” the report indicated.
The malfeasance and other irregularities noted in all regions occurred in areas of cash management, procurement and stores, payroll, contract, management and tax.
Financial irregularities went up from the 2015 figure of GH¢21, 693,137.25 to GH¢24,735,977.25 in 2016.
Malfeasance in cash management went up from GH¢6,894,716.24 in 2015 to GH¢8,527,504.33, while procurement increased from GH¢12,075,399.85 in 2015 to GH¢12,539,621.85 in 2016, with malfeasance in contract rising from the GH¢1,147,817.83 in 2015 to GH¢2,943,512.24 in 2016.
Only two of the items, payroll and tax record marginal decrease from GH¢343,596.44 in 2015 to GH¢134,741.37, and GH¢1,231,606.89 to GH¢590,597.44 in 2016.
It is recalled that the Auditor-General said he has taken steps to retrieve all monies embezzled by public officers through surcharging. The Supreme Court on July 14, 2017 ordered the Auditor-General to surcharge anyone found to have misappropriated public funds.
Per the court judgement, the Auditor-General must act on its annual report and take steps to retrieve public funds found to have been misapplied.
On August 2, 2017, the office of the Auditor-General surcharged 11 people for misapplying state funds.
Mr. Domelevo, who announced this to the media, said he did not intend using the surcharge option maliciously.
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