Zoomlion, Rlg and others to refund over GH¢200 million to State

• Posted on July 22, 2013
• by nas
• Comment

Government is to recover over GH¢200 million, constituting unlawful payments, from service providers with the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA).

An investigative committee set up by Youth and Sports Minister, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah found that service providers took advantage of lapses within GYEEDA to overcharge the state and received payments they did not deserve.

The Committee last week presented its report to the President recommending among other things that the programme be saved from collapse.

Three companies from the AGAMS Group are to refund a total of GH¢55.5 million to the state. This amount is made up of an overpayment of GH¢5.5 million GYEEDA made to RLG Communications Limited.

The report says lapses in the finance department of GYEEDA is partly to blame for the overpayment. The three companies; Craftpro, Asongtaba Cottage Industry and Exchange Programme and RLG Communications also owe the state interest-free loans to the tune of GH¢50 million.

Officials of the AGAMS Group have confirmed to Joy News that some of the unpaid loans were due for payment two years ago.

The companies, according to the investigative report, have not paid a pesewa to the state.

The committee also said the loans were illegal because they did not received parliamentary approval as provided by Article 181 of the 1992 Constitution.

Another company, which must refund money to the state, is the Goodwill International Group.

It is to refund an amount of GH¢2.4 million to the state. The company is also to refund over US$2 million it took from GYEEDA but did not render any service.

The Better Ghana Management Service, a subsidiary of Zoomlion Company Limited, is also to refund money to the state, according to the report.

The company was paid GH¢58.1 million to train GYEEDA beneficiaries, a training described as unnecessary by the committee training but it failed to provide the service. It also overcharged the state by about GH¢9 million for garbage collection tricycles it purported to have supplied GYEEDA beneficiaries.

Better Ghana Management Service is also expected to refund GH¢67.1 million to government.

The worst culprit, according to the report, is Zoomlion Ghana Limited. The company is said to have overcharged the state for tricycle and motorbike to the tune of GH¢74.2 million.

The report says; “the management fee schedule provided by Zoomlion, suggests a serious misuse of the public purse and was based on erroneous mathematics”.

The committee blames the financial mismanagement partly on the incompetence of the Head of Finance at GYEEDA, Alhaji Sulemana Ibrahim.

According to the report, Alhaji Ibrahim admitted he is not capable of preparing financial statements.

The committee, therefore, recommended his removal from office.

In all the state will retrieve over GH¢203 million if the report is implemented.

The committee also suggests that the state will save huge sums of money every month if government cancels the contracts with the service providers.

source: myjoyonline