Mr James Klutse Avedzi, Chairman of the Public Account Committee (PAC), has directed that two former cashiers of the Judicial Service, who embezzled various sums of money belonging to the State, should report themselves to the Clerk of the Committee.
He said the two cashiers were to appear before the Committee to respond to issues raised in the Auditors General Report in their own interest, saying “failure to do so means the law would catch up with them.”
The two are Mr Clemence Animabo, a former cashier at the Twifo Praso Magistrate Court and James Twum, a former cashier at the Wumfie Magistrate Court, who misappropriated over GH71,759 and GH 20,037 respectively.
Mr Avedzi gave the directive when officials of the Judicial Service appeared before the Committee to respond to infractions in the 2018 Auditors General Report being considered by PAC.
Between August 2016 and December 2017, Mr Animabo, who was the cashier at the Twifo Praso Magistrate Court, collected an amount of GH 220,046 and deposited only GH 148,287 into the accounts of the Judicial Service, leaving a balance of GH71,759 unaccounted for.
However, the Auditor-General in its report flagged the breaches and recommended a full recovery of the said amount.
Mrs Vera Takyi, Director of Finance, Judicial Service who represented the Judicial Secretary at the PAC hearing, explained that upon the receipt of the management letter, the officer involved was placed on interdiction and paid an amount of GH 10,492 out of the GH71,759, leaving GH61,267 outstanding.
She said later the cashier absconded and the Service had to lodge a complaint with the District Officer at Twifo Praso and the Regional Police Commander at Cape Coast.
She said their last check showed that the cashier was still a large but indicated that the Judicial Service had taken some remedial measures to ensure that all its cashiers would have guarantors.
Mrs Takyi also stated that the Service had strengthened its monitoring processes and the non-tax revenue department was going round regularly to check on all the cashiers.
Also, between August 31, 2017, and August 15, 2018, Mr James Twum, who was the cashier at the Wumfie Magistrate Court, collected a total of GH 64,444 and deposited only GH 44,407, leaving an outstanding balance of GH20,03.
The auditors in their report identified that the infractions that occurred were a result of irregular supervision.
Mrs Takyi explained that when the infractions were reported Mr Twum was placed on interdiction but absconded.
She said the case was reported to the Wumfie District Police, who were still handling the matter.
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