Kofi Jumah faced with ¢336.9m surcharge

MR. MAXWELL Kofi Jumah, the former Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and currently the Member of Parliament for Asokwa, is faced with a surcharge of ¢336,931,250.00, the equivalent of 23,500 pounds. The figure represents the cost of two imported second hand street sweepers, acquired by the KMA in 2003.

According to a special draft audit report of June 29, 2005 and signed by Mr. S. Aduamoah-Addo, the Assistant Auditor-General, Jumah approved the payment of the said amount to a A. Amsy Limited of Kumasi without seeking the valuation and certification of a Technical Officer, contrary to section 691 Part xii of the Financial Administration Regulation (FAR) L.I. 1234.

The L. I. requires purchasing officers who purchased used equipment to obtain an independent valuation from a competent technical officer and a valuation certificate attached to the relevant payment voucher.

It has been recommended that in the event of Amsy Limited failing to repair the vehicles, the former KMA Chief Executive should be surcharged with the cost.

The recommendation follows the conviction of the auditors that the Assembly did not obtain good value for the money spent on the acquisition of the sweepers.

The auditors further recommended that Kofi Jumah alias Kofi Ghana should be made to justify the purchase of the second-hand sweepers without seeking professional advice from a Technical officer.

The KMA, as well, is directed to prevail upon A. Amsy Limited to repair the two sweepers at no cost to the Assembly.

The said sweepers, acquired with accessories and spare parts in November 2003, have since broken down.

A physical inspection of the vehicles by an audit team in Kumasi in October 2004, indicated that the sweepers were not roadworthy, which fact was corroborated by KMA's Transport Officer, adding that they (sweepers) had not been regular on the roads.

An audit report on cash management and procurement among others at KMA and available to The Chronicle has revealed that between November 2003 and October 2004, the two sweepers had worked for a total of 119 days, with intermittent breakdowns, before the final break down.

The 30-page special draft audit report, to which management has responded in line with section 29 of the Audit Service Act (Act 584), has as well cited Kofi Jumah for causing a financial lapse by purchasing items worth ¢770,479,400 on his own, without recourse to laid down procurement procedures.

The report indicated that most of the items purchased were not covered by, either Purchase Orders (P.Os) or Store Receipt Vouchers or both and that the Stores Department did not even have records of the said items purchased.

Read more on the financial misadministration at KMA between January 2002 and December 2004 under the administration of Kofi Jumah next week.