The Storekeeper of the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO) has been asked to justify reasons for the non-inclusion of 1,670 bags of rice in its stock report or refund the related amount of GH¢149,115.00, the 2020 Auditor-General report cited.
According to the report, “1670 bags of rice purchased during the 2016 financial year valued at GH¢149,115.00 was not accounted for in the stock report of that year and 3,231 bags of rice in stock valued at GH¢242,325.00 got damaged due to a heavy downpour”.
These were captured in the 2020 Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana – Public Boards, Corporations and other Statutory Institutions for the period ended December 31, 2020.
The report also stated that NAFCO did not apply the 7.5 per cent tax rate on DMT Collateral Services expenses of GH¢135,000.00 incurred during the period, leading to a loss of tax amount of GH¢7,215.00.
It therefore recommended that NAFCO management should review all payments made and compute Withholding Tax (WHT) at 7.5 per cent and effect payment of the difference to the Ghana Revenue Authority.
A total of GH¢482,360.00 for various expenses incurred were without adequate supporting documents like receipts, signed sheets and other relevant documentation from the payees as an evidence of executing the activities to account for the expenditures.
The report said, the NAFCO Management contracted a consultant for warehouse renovation works without obtaining other quotations to ensure fair completion.
The report cited that the management also advanced an amount of GH¢150,000.00 to the consultants for the renovation of warehouses in Yendi and Tamale instead of the actual cost of the renovation of GH¢15,000.00.
With that, the Auditor-General recommended management to ensure that procurement procedures were duly followed by obtaining a minimum of three quotations for the new services to be obtained from consultants.
“Management should also provide the consultancy report to justify the disbursement of GH¢150,000.00 advance granted to the consultant or recover the amount from him”, Auditor-General directed.
Unregistered companies
NAFCO Management, the report added, procured white maize and other supplies totalling GH¢12,347,402.97 from 43 unregistered and unlicensed companies, leading to loss of registration and license fees of GH¢64,500.00.
The report recommended that Management collects the registration and license fees of not less than GH¢64,500.00 from the 43 entities and update the list of suppliers accordingly.
It asserted that operational advances, which amounted to GH¢16,980.00 which were brought forward from 2016 and an advance of GH¢2,000.00 granted to staff in February 2016 had not been retired and refunded as at the end of 2017 and as at the date of our review in August 2019.
The report therefore called on Management to implement measures to ensure that advances not accounted for in a timely manner were recovered from benefits or salaries of defaulting employees.
Violation of PFMR
The report said, in 2008, Management procured white maize and other supplies totalling GH¢30,360,044.00 from 56 unregistered and unlicensed sampled Companies leading to loss of registration and license fees of GH¢84,000.00.
Also, the Auditor-General noted that an amount totalling GH¢333,050.00 relating to expenses incurred on various activities were not adequately supported with third party documentations such as receipts and signed sheet to account for them.
According to the 2020 report, the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited made total payments of GH¢1,924,699.52 without the approval and authorisation of both the Senior Finance Officer and the Chief Executive Officer.
This, the report explained, was in clear violation of Regulation 82 of the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378), recommending that all payment vouchers must be duly authorised and approved by the Chief Executive Officer and the Senior Finance Officer.
