Details: Monies for rural electrification blown on cars by Energy Ministry
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An Audit report presented to Parliament has shown that the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum spent $1,745, 159 on 38 luxurious vehicles.
The amount according to the report was meant to extend electricity to about 1200 communities in the country under the Multi-Donor Budgetary Support Programme between 2010 and 2012.
The vehicles include; Ford F150 truck, Lexus LX570, Chrysler 300, Dodge Dakota SLT, and Grido Ford 5150. The Auditor-General, Richard Quartey who presented the report to Parliament explained that the Ministry used the money for the electricity project because as at the time of the purchases, there was no budgetary allocation for the vehicles.
According to the report, the ministry also bought two heavy duty photocopiers for $33,226.40 (GHS106,324), four desktop computers with accessories for $10,522.28, and three laptop computers with accessories for $8,008.71.
The report further stated that, “The Director of power explained the acquisition of the vehicles and office equipment was for capacity building to enhance the service delivery of the Ministry.”
Defending the expenditure the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum explained that it bought the vehicles and equipment with money from the loan facility to ensure the timely delivery of the vehicles.
The Ministry added that they did not seek government funding for the vehicles because it would have delayed looking at the urgency of their project.
By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh
ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson
[email protected] An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.
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