The Auditor-General has indicted management of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) for abandoning over GHC19m training school with a guest house.
According to the 2020 Audit report, the facility constructed in 2016 has now been reduced to office accommodation for some management members contrary to the purpose for which it was put up.
Some private individuals and board members have also been allocated offices in the facility known as Standard Heights.
“The Authority constructed a Training School with a Guest House facility and furnishing at a cost of GH¢19,463,535.26. However, our physical inspection conducted disclosed that the facility was not fully utilized for its intended purpose since its completion in December 2016.”
The Auditor-General has thus directed management of the Authority to take immediate steps to ensure the facility is put to use.
“To avoid further loss of revenue and deterioration of the facility, we recommended to Management to take urgent steps to resolve all issues with GIMPA Hospitality Services to ensure full utilization of the facilities.”
The board has also been ordered to justify variation of the contract sum by more than 29% with necessary documents.
“We noted that the Board approved a price fluctuation of GH¢4,487,205.38 representing 29.5% of the original contract sum of GH¢15,229,412.38 in respect of Design and Construction of training school and hostel facility at Ridge -Accra by Messrs Lemet Construction Company Ltd. without referring to the appropriate authority for approval. We recommended to Management to provide the audit team with; a copy of letter written to the appropriate authority for the approval, the approval letter, the Consultant’s report, and Bill of Quantities to justify the price fluctuation for audit review.”
The Ghana Standards Authority has been cited for other infractions including using Internally Generated Fund (IGF) for payment of salary and allowances for the Director-General for the organization Prof. Alex Dodoo. The development, according to the Auditor-General report is in violation the Retention of Fund Act, 2007 (Act 735).
“We noted that the Board of Directors determined and authorized payment of GH¢291,570.12 to Director-General as salary and related allowances covering the period of June 2017 to December 2017 from Internally Generated Find (IGF) in contravention of the Retention of Fund Act, 2007 (Act 735).”
The Auditor-General has therefore asked the board to take remedial action and stop payment of salaries and allowances of the DG from the organization’s IGF.
“We recommended the Board to seek retrospective approval from the Ministry of Finance to ratify the salary and the related allowances paid to the Director-General.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5fm
