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30.01.2015 Feature Article

Ghana's Payroll Matters: Did The Finance Minister Willfully Cause Ghana To Lose Millions Of Dollars?

Ghana's Payroll Matters: Did The Finance Minister Willfully Cause Ghana To Lose Millions Of Dollars?
30.01.2015 LISTEN

My Vice President Kofi Bentil and I have been musing over the actions of the Finance Minister in disobeying his predecessor superior's directive to transit the problematic payroll under the aegis of the Controller and Accountant General's Department to a more stable platform, hence causing Ghana millions of tax payer funds.

It would be recalled that the Finance Minister told the Presdient of IMANI on public radio that he is not bound by the decisions of his predecessor. However, that singular decision his predecessor took was blessed by all the current senior officers of the Controller and Accountant General's Department, the Presdient of Ghana at the time, the late President Mills and the current Finance Minister was simply to follow.

In fact, I had earlier discussed the matter with a foremost legal brain in Ghana. Kofi Bentil agrees with his thoughts and suggests that the decisions of the Finance Minister by his own contests a wilful disregard of his superior's instruction. The effect of that is the loss of millions of dollars.

His dereliction of duty has been very costly and Parliament must call and question him. Kofi Bentil suggests that the President who appointed the finance minister must take a serious view to his potentially wilful act which may have caused Ghana so many millions of dollars and led to a malfunction of the accounting system.

Below is relevant portion of the former Finance Minister's letter.

June 12, 2012
(ATTENTION: MR. R. TUFFUOR)
Dear Mr. Tuffuor
RUNNING OF LIVE ACTIVE PAYROll ON IPPD3
1. Over the past 6 years, your organization has been running live payroll from the IPPD2 with numerous challenges. The IPPD3 was therefore procured in 2008 as a back-up system. As it is now, your organization has two payroll systems, viz. IPPD2 (oracle) and IPPD3 (Akatua) and it is my understanding that since the purchase of the IPPD3 it has been running in parallel on standby.

2. Given the current challenges with the payroll, I request that you give the iPPD3 on-site team currentiy running the live pensions access to run the live active payroll in its totality. To this end, please write to the vendors of the IPPD3, i.e., the SOFTtribe Ltd, and request for a comprehensive project roll-out plan for implementation.

3. You are also requested to submit a monthly report from both the IPPD2 and IPPD3 with effect from this, June 2012.

4. Kindly treat this request with all the 'urgency it deserves.

Yours sincerely
HON. DR. KWABE FUOR – MINISTER
cc: Hon. Deputy Ministers, MoFEP
Chief Director, MoFEP
The Auditor-General, Ghana Audit Service -,
The Chairman, Public Services Commission
The Chief Executive Officer, FWSC
The Deputy Controller & Accountant-General, (F&A)
The Deputy Controller & Accountant-General, (FMS)
The Deputy Controller & Accountant-General, (T)
Kofi pointed me to the relevant legal provisions
The Criminal Code, ACT 29
Section 179A—Causing Loss, Damage or Injury to Property.

(1) Any person who by a wilful act or omission causes loss, damage or injury to the property of any public body or any agency of the State commits an offence.

(2) Any person who in the course of any transaction or business with a public body or any agency of the State intentionally causes damage or loss whether economic or otherwise to the body or agency commits an offence.

(3) Any person through whose wilful, malicious or fraudulent action or omission—

(a) the State incurs a financial loss; or
(b) the security of the State is endangered, commits an offence.

(4) In this section "public body" includes the State, Government of Ghana, public board or corporation, public institution and any company or other body in which the State or a public corporation or other statutory body has a proprietary interest.

Respectfully yours,
Franklin Cudjoe
Founding President & CEO, IMANI
www..imanighana.com
Wikipedia info
Franklin Cudjoe's bio data
Franklin Cudjoe Declared World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader

What the World Bank says of IMANI

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