Parliament’s Accounts Committee says the manager of the National Aids Control Programme, Dr. Nii Akwei Addo must be sanctioned for administrative violations resulting in the misappropriation of money deposited by persons living with HIV and Aids.
The patients were said to have deposited an amount of five Ghana cedis on each visit to three hospitals – the KNUST, Sandema and the Yendi hospitals- for comprehensive health care including the supply of anti-retroviral drugs.
The monies deposited by the patients between 2005 to 2009, which amounted to some 6.4 million Ghana cedis has been misappropriated, the Accounts Committee has detected.
The Committee also found an overpayment of claims amounting to 22 million Ghana cedis by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
Chairman of the Accounts Committee of Parliament, Kwaku Agyemang Manu said the manager must be sanctioned for this administrative anomaly.
“The three hospitals were not given any clear instructions on how to treat monies collected from people living with the disease, when they were added to the treatment sites.
“The committee considers this situation a violation of regulation 15 (1) of the Financial Administration Regulation 204 LI 1802 and recommends that the manager of the Aids Control Programme is sanctioned,” he said on the floor of Parliament, Wednesday.
But Member of Parliament(MP) for Sekondi, Papa Owusu Ankomah is unhappy the committee failed to clearly state the sanction to be meted out to the manager of the national Aids control programme.
In a response, the Deputy Ranking member of Parliament, George Loh said the Speaker has directed an implementation committee to be set up to execute the committee’s report.
He said the implementation committee will liaise with the employers of Dr. Nii Akwei Addo to execute the sanctions but hinted the manager would be made to refund the amount misappropriated.