The Auditor General has issued citations to 19 former and present judges of Ghana’s higher courts for buying public vehicles in breach of Regulation 158 of the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019. (L.I. 2378).
The Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity shall obtain the Minister’s prior written approval before transferring, exchanging, selling, donating, providing a contribution in kind, placing a vehicle in trust, or making any other type of vehicle disposal, as provided in Regulation 158 of the aforementioned law.
It further provides that without the Minister’s express authorization, any disposition, lease, or other activity referred to in Sub-regulation 1 is void and unenforceable.
The vehicles were “auctioned by the Service for GH1,023,507.96 without clearance from the Minister of Finance,” according to the 2021 Auditor-report.
Justices Yaw Appau, E.K. Mensah, and Julius Ansah, who recently retired from the Supreme Court, were among those who were found guilty of breaking the legislation for having acquired state-owned cars in contravention of the guidelines outlined in this law.
The Auditor-General wants the cars back and has asked the justices to declare the car sale illegal.
“In the absence of approval from the Minister for Finance, we recommended that the auction should be nullified, and the vehicles recovered,” the report stated.
See the relevant portion of the report below:
Source: myjoyonline
