PAC threatens to block budget allocations to SIGA if…

• Dr James Klutse Avedzi

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has threatened to block all budgetary allocation to the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) if it fails to recover GH¢747,298.93 debt.

The amount constitute defaulted rents receivables expected from 2019 to 2020 to be paid by four institutions namely, Ministry of Energy, Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC), Ghana Employers Association (GEA) and Ghana Heavy Equipment Limited.

Per the 2022 Auditor General’s Report, failure on the part of SIGA to institute appropriate debts recovery plans contributed to the poor recovery of the debt.

It said the action of SIGA was in contravention of Section 91 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) which provides that the Board of Directors of a public corporation should ensure the efficient management of the financial resources of the public corporation including the collection and receipt of moneys due to that public corporation.

“The non-collection of the overdue debts locked-up the resources of the Authority and resulted in the loss of revenue.

We recommended to Management to take steps including legal action to recover the debts to avoid bad debts,” the report added.

However, appearing before the PAC in Accra yesterday, John Boadu, Director General of SIGA, said they could not retrieve any of the debts due to financial challenges impeding the operations of some of the institutions in debtors.

Citing the Ghana Heavy Equipment Company, for instance, he said the company was currently going through divestiture to deal with its financial distress situation and resuscitate it.

The others, which were disputing over the debt, had been issued with demand notices and were being engaged regularly on their debts.

“Mr Chairman, SIGA is engaging with these debtors to arrive at a payment plan. Although, the recommendation is to recover the debt, we also have a mandate to ensure that these state institutions are in good financial position to avoid collapse.

We’ve written more than five demand notices on different occasions to the defaulting institutions. And when all options have been exhausted, we may consider legal action in future to recover the money,” Mr Boadu added.

Reacting to the explanations by the management of SIGA, Chairman of PAC, Dr James Klutse Avedzi, said the posture of SIGA suggested that it was not ready to recover the debts.

“I get the feeling that you do not want the money and that’s why you’re speaking for them on their distress situations. You’re defending these institutions for failing to pay rent on the facilities they have used for their operations.

If you don’t recover the money and you ask government for money, we will oppose it. We will tell Parliament that you’ve money sitting somewhere, so go for it,” he noted.

Member of the Committee, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, advised the management of SIGA to initiate all necessary means, including legal redress to recover the debt.

As captured in the report, he said the current debt situation was a breach of law, resulting from the inaction of some officials at SIGA.

“Go to court, if need be to recover the debt. If you’re facing difficulties, then you can count on the committee for support,” he added

BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS