The Chairperson of Parliament’s Local Government and Rural Development Committee, Hon. Queenstar Maame Pokua Sawyerr, has expressed grave concern over the persistent mismanagement of funds allocated to persons with disabilities (PWDs) by some Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
Speaking to ParliamentNews360.com on the sidelines of the Committee’s ongoing sitting to consider the Internal Audit Reports of MMDAs for 2023 and 2024, Hon. Sawyerr revealed that several assemblies have been diverting or misusing funds intended to support PWDs.
“While we are meeting with the MMDCEs, a lot of the monies meant for the disabled are being mismanaged. The excuse they give is that they are borrowing it and then they would replace it later. Whether they replace it or not, nobody knows,” she lamented.
“Honestly, I don’t believe they put it back into their accounts,” she added.
According to the Committee Chairperson, audit reports show that some assemblies spend portions of the funds without proper authorization — sometimes using them to procure items on behalf of beneficiaries instead of disbursing the funds directly.
“Sometimes the MMDCEs themselves will use some of the money to buy items for them as if it’s their own decision. The excuses and reasons, for me, honestly, don’t make sense,” she stated.
Hon. Sawyerr, who is also the MP for Agona East, emphasized that the Committee will take a tough stance against such practices going forward.
“If God willing next year, we sit again and we find that anybody has done that, we are going to be very, very hard on the person — whether it’s the finance officer, coordinating director, DFO, or the chief executive. We will ensure action is taken because this is just not right,” she warned.
She explained that the Committee has identified several districts with recurring cases of financial irregularities and intends to conduct further monitoring to verify and address these issues.
“We have more than 27 districts that we have to visit because there are problems there. Once one or two things are confirmed, we will know who to report to,” she said.
Hon. Sawyerr disclosed that the Committee’s findings will be compiled and submitted to the Speaker of Parliament, the Minister for Local Government, and the Chief of Staff within a week to prompt swift corrective measures.
Touching on the relationship between Members of Parliament (MPs) and District Chief Executives (DCEs), she noted that the deepening of decentralization has resulted in more financial resources being directed to the assemblies than to MPs, yet monitoring remains weak.
“Now a lot of money is going to the assemblies. The DCEs are receiving more funds than MPs. If you give money to somebody in abundance and you don’t follow it up, the person will misuse it,” she remarked.
She however expressed optimism that the Committee’s early intervention will deter future financial indiscipline at the local level.
“This 2025, they are not going to misuse it anymore because we have started this early and on time,” she concluded.
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
