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Thursday, March 28, 2024

GHS officials forced to withdraw protest letter against Auditor General

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Officials of the Ghana Health Service have been forced to withdraw a letter protesting the findings of the 2015 Auditor General’s Report which made adverse findings against the service.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee Thursday, the officials, led by the Director General of the Service  Dr Anthony Nsia Asare, insisted they did nothing wrong in the auction of the nine vehicles to staff of the service.

The Auditor General in its 2015 findings said it was irregular for the nine vehicles to have been sold to the staff of the service when the auction was supposed to have been done for the general public.

But Dr Nsia Asare and his men contested the findings. They came to the committee with a letter dismissing the findings and insisting they did nothing wrong in the auctioning of the said vehicles.

The Chairman of the Committee James Klutse Avedzi read contents of the rebuttal by the officials of the Health Service after which he engaged the Director General in a feisty banter  over the propriety of selling the vehicles to members of staff.

In the face of the presidential directive for public servants not to buy state vehicles, Avedzi questioned why officials of the Health Service will mount a defence for the buying of state cars by officials of the Health Service.

But Dr Nsia Asare insisted the cars auctioned were not in the same category as the ones sold to ministers and other government appointees.

According to him, the nine cars were not serviceable but added due process was followed in the auction process.

He explained auction was advertised in the newspapers and brought evidence of the announcement.

But Joy News’ Parliamentary Correspondent Joseph Opoku Gakpo reported that Dr Anthony Nsia Asare was made to withdraw the letter after members of the Appointment Committee pointed to several breaches by the officials of the Ghana Health Service.

By law and procedure, proceeds of the auction were supposed to have been paid into a non-tax revenue account of the Bank of Ghana a day after the auction had been done.

However, officials of the Ghana Health Service were deemed to have made payment of the said proceeds in April 24, 2017 more than four years after the auction.

The auction was done in 2013.

According to Opoku Gakpo these facts were pointed out to Dr Nsia Asare after which he was made to withdraw the letter.

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