“GBC has become a booty for people, everybody to go and take whatever they want to take”. According to him, a lot of the revenue generated by the state broadcaster finds its way into the private pockets of individual because the accounting systems are not done in the professionally.
On Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme, Prof Aheto explained that GBC is in serious financial crisis and in July, August and September, they had to borrow money from Prudential Bank to pay the salaries of workers.
He said “internal audit is not functioning; year after year after year the external auditors bring to us what the things that are going on wrong in GBC; the areas where money is being stolen and being lost. Internal audit and the Director General have not once said let’s sit down let’s look as these things what can we do about it”.
Prof Aheto revealed that, beleaguered Director General, Ampem-Darko since 2008 dissolved a five-member committee which looks into all contracts and appointed one person from technical and marketing to sign contracts without the knowledge of the lawyer and director of finance at GBC.
He observed that, for a prudent financial management at GBC, they demanded a spending limit from Ampem-Darko but “he ran to the NMC that we are after his blood”.
He noted that the National Media Commission (NMC) did not investigate the reasons why the board wanted a spending limit but demanded that they (the board) submit a report. He said they submitted the report in November 2009 and are still waiting for the response. “Nobody is after Ampem-Darko. I have no interest in the work he does; he is below me, seriously below me”.
Prof Aheto said he is puzzled by the action of the Media Commission because they as a board are obligated to ensure that things are functioning well in GBC. “For a whole nearly one-and-half years this issue has not been resolved, rather they sent us a letter about a month ago that our term of office ends on April 20th. Nothing said about the complaint we launched and the mismanagement of finances”.
On reports that Mr. Ampem Darko would be reinstated as the Director General of GBC, he said “if he comes back and the National Media Commission deems that he should come back, they have the law on their side”.
Prof Aheto suggested that for GBC to survive, “we need to ensure that people who we appoint are the right people; they have not put their personal vested interest in front of them and that the national interest is number one and paramount”.
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