Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Joseph Oppong Siaw
The Auditor-General’s 2020 report on the 2020 Management and Utilisation of the District Assemblies Common Fund and other Statutory Funds has found that Jospong Group of Companies’ Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited (SSGL), has been paid a total of GH¢95 million since 2016 without any legal backing.
The company was paid GHS19 million in 2020 as part of the GH¢95 million.
The A-G has, thus, charged the Administrator of the DACF, Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo, to recover the money from SSGL.
According to the A-G’s report, however, the payments were illegal and unconstitutional.
“We could not establish the basis for the payment of the GH¢95 million as support to a private entity with no government ownership”, the report said.
“We were also of the view that Article 252 (3) of the 1992 Constitution does not permit the allocation of the Common Fund to private entities and would be a loss to the Assemblies if not recovered,” it noted.
According to the report, there was a letter from the office of the president dated 15 June 2016, which stated the “intention of cabinet to provide a credit guarantee for the completion of the Accra Waste Treatment Plant, Mudor Faecal and the old Lavender Hill.”
The report said the letter from the office of the president specified that the intention of the Cabinet was to provide a credit guarantee for the completion of the three facilities.
It also noted that the payments commenced in 2016 with an annual provision in the approved payment formula.
Additionally, it said the then-Administrator, Mr. Kojo Fynn, did not obtain any contractual document to support funding to a private entity or enter into any legally binding arrangement to recover the support made to Sewerage Systems GH Limited.