Nurses and Midwifery Council invests GH¢2m meant for project in T-bills

The Auditor-General has revealed authorities at the Nurses and Midwifery Council invested GH¢2,000,000 in Treasury Bills instead of completing an office complex for the Council.

The funds, released in 2011 were meant to continue with the office complex project, but instead of doing precisely that, authorities at the council invested the money in Treasury Bills in violation of the law.

“Management should apply laid down procedures and abrogate the contract for non-performance and re-package the remaining works for tendering and award to a competent contractor”, was the recommendation from the Auditor General.

The report also revealed that the Council paid an amount of GH¢31,222.80 to M/S Western Automobile Center Ltd. in August 2009 for the supply of one Nissan Urvan bus, however, four years later the Company was yet to supply the vehicle.

“The Council risks losing this money if not pursued. We recommended that strenuous effort should be made to recover the amount from the company”, the report suggested.

Finally, the report stated that the Council failed to remit Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and Social Security deductions of GH¢9,196.96 made from contract (temporal) employees' salaries for the period under review to the appropriate authorities.

“Additionally, an amount of GH¢17,677.15 of the statutory deductions which had accumulated over the years were yet to be paid. The practice deprived the state of accrued tax revenue and the employees were also denied the right of saving towards their pension”, the report said.

The Auditor General's recommendation was that the accumulated statutory deductions totalling GH¢26,874.11 should be remitted to the appropriate authorities immediately to avoid penalties and employees' losses.

The Nurses and Midwifery Council of Ghana is the statutory authority responsible for the establishment of standards and guidelines for nurses and midwives in the country.

The Council also registers and maintains a list of practitioners.

  Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]