The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) is said to have spent a total of Ghs 16.83 million on administrative and operational activities from unapproved budgets from the period between 2017 to 2019.
This was disclosed by the Auditor-General (AG) in his audit reports on public boards, corporations and other statutory Institutions.
In the report, the Acting AG urged management of GEPA to seek retrospective approval from Parliament for the said amount spent to avoid disallowance and surcharge sanctions.
The said amount spent by GEPA include some Ghs 15.73 million received from Exim Bank as well as some Ghs 316,103.54 paid to four (4) Travel and Tour Companies.
“We noticed that management did not prequalify four Travel and Tour Companies before engaging them in ticket transactions amounting to Ghs 316,103.54. We therefore entreated the Authority to seek retrospective approval from Parliament for the utilisation of Exim Bank funds and inform us accordingly,” read the report.
“We recommended that Management should ensure that all business entities meet the statutory prequalification criteria outlined in section 21 of the Public Procurement Act before they are considered for business,” it added.
The report also indicated that the Acting Director of Finance did not prepare and submit to the Auditor-General for validation and certification, the financial statements for the years 2017 and 2018.
The report, therefore, urged the Executive Secretary of GEPA to ensure that the Ag. Director of Finance prepares and submit to the Auditor-General for validation and certification, the financial statements for the years 2017 and 2018.
