Our Vision Our Vision is to become a world-class Supreme Audit I n s t i t u t i o n d e l i v e r i n g professional, excellent and cost-effective services. REPUBLIC OF GHANA REPORT OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL ON THE ACCOUNTS OF DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2018 This report has been prepared under Section 11 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 for presentation to Parliament in accordance with Section 20 of the Act. Daniel Yaw Domelevo Auditor-General Ghana Audit Service 20 June 2019 This report can be found on the Ghana Audit Service website: www.ghaudit.org For further information about the Ghana Audit Service, please contact: The Director, Communication Unit Ghana Audit Service Headquarters Post Office Box MB 96, Accra. Tel: 0302 664928/29/20 Fax: 0302 662493/675496 E-mail: [email protected] Location: Ministries Block 'O' © Ghana Audit Service 2019 TRANSMITTAL LETTER Ref. No.: AG/01/109/Vol.2/128 Office of the Auditor-General P.O. Box MB 96 Accra GA/110/8787 Tel: (0302) 662493 Fax: (0302) 675496 20 June 2019 Dear Rt. Honourable Speaker, REPORT OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL ON THE ACCOUNTS OF DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2018 I have the honour, in accordance with Article 187(5) of the Constitution to present my Report on the audit of the accounts of District Assemblies for the financial year ended 31 December 2018, to be laid before Parliament. 2. The Report is a consolidation of the significant findings and recommendations made during our routine audits conducted under my direction, which have been formally conveyed in management letters and annual audit reports to the Assemblies. The findings herein contained are the unresolved significant issues after taking into consideration verified management responses. It is presented in three parts. Part I outlines our mandate, scope and objectives for the audit, while Part II provides an executive summary of the results of the audit and our recommendations. Part III deals with the details of the significant findings and recommendations. 3. The Report continues to highlight recurring irregularities which are caused by absence of sanctions against financial and administrative indiscipline, managerial ineffectiveness and low level of commitment by Report of the Auditor-General on the public accounts of District Assemblies 1 for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 Coordinating Directors and Finance Officers towards enforcing the provisions of relevant legislation and administrative instructions. 4. I wish to remind the Honourable Minister, the Head of Local Government Service, and the Administrators of the Funds to take note of my mandate under Article 187(7) (b) (iii) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana to disallow any item of expenditure which is contrary to law and surcharge the amount of any loss or deficiency, upon any person by whose negligence or misconduct the loss or deficiency has been incurred. 5. I gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance provided by the Chief Executives of the Assemblies and their staff during the audits. I also acknowledge and commend my staff for their invaluable contributions towards the production of this report. Yours faithfully, DANIEL YAW DOMELEVO AUDITOR-GENERAL THE RT. HON. SPEAKER OFFICE OF PARLIAMENT PARLIAMENT HOUSE ACCRA Report of the Auditor-General on the public accounts of District Assemblies 2 for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 Contents Acronyms ............................................................................................................... 4 PART I Mandate, Scope And Audit Objectives ..................................................................... 5 PART II Executive Summary ................................................................................................ 7 PART III Details Of Findings And Recommendations ........................................................... 14 Ashanti Region ..................................................................................................... 14 Brong Ahafo Region ............................................................................................. 34 Central Region ...................................................................................................... 59 Eastern Region ...................................................................................................... 78 Greater Accra Region ............................................................................................ 85 Northern Region .................................................................................................... 99 Upper East Region ............................................................................................ 109 Upper West Region ............................................................................................. 120 Volta Region ....................................................................................................... 132 Western Region ................................................................................................... 139 Report of the Auditor-General on the public accounts of District Assemblies 3 for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 ACRONYMS DACF - District Assemblies Common Fund DCD - District Coordinating Director DDF - District Development Facility DP - Development Partner FAR - Financial Administration Regulations FMDA - Financial Memoranda for District Assemblies GCR - General Counterfoil Receipt IGF - Internally Generated Funds LI - Legislative Instrument GoG - Government of Ghana IGF - Internally Generated Funds MLGRD - Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development MMA - Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies MMDA - Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies UDG - Urban Development Grant GSOP - Ghana Social Opportunities Project SSF - Social Security Fund SSNIT - Social Security and National Insurance Trust Report of the Auditor-General on the public accounts of District Assemblies 4 for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 REPORT OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL ON THE ACCOUNTS OF DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2018 PART I MANDATE, SCOPE AND AUDIT OBJECTIVES Introduction 6. In accordance with Articles 187(2) and 253 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and Section 84 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), the Audit Service has audited the accounts of the 240 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies for the financial year ended 31 December 2018. Twelve Assemblies were unable to submit their financial statements by the statutory deadline of 28 February 2018. We however conducted audits on the accounting records and operations of 240 Assemblies. Two newly created Assemblies, Ahafo Ano South East and Juaben, in the Ashanti Region were not audited during the period under review 7. Our findings and recommendations from the audits of the Assemblies were discussed with the key personnel involved and communicated in individual management letters and annual audit reports for their comments and necessary action. Responses received, where deemed appropriate, have been included in this Report. Scope and audit objectives 8. I applied the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) in the conduct of the audits. My audits were also guided by Section 13 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584) which required that I ascertain whether in my opinion: i. The accounts have been properly kept; ii. All public monies collected have been fully accounted for and rules, regulations and procedures are sufficient to provide effective check on the assessment, collection and proper allocation of revenue; iii. Monies have been expended for the purposes for which they were appropriated and expenditures made as authorized; Report of the Auditor-General on the public accounts of District Assemblies 5 for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 iv. Essential records were maintained and the rules and procedures applied were sufficient to safeguard and control the Assemblies’ assets and v. Programmes and activities of the Assemblies have been undertaken with due regard to economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in relation to the resources utilized and results achieved. 9. My audits also ascertained the extent of compliance with applicable laws, regulations and guidelines. These included the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), Financial Administration Regulations, 2004 (LI 1802), Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), Public Procurement (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 914) and the Financial Memoranda for District Assemblies. 10. We have provided in this Report, extracts from the financial statements for the period 2016 to 2018 for purposes of comparing the year-on-year performance of the Assemblies and to provide an appraisal of Assemblies which default in submitting their financial statements for audit validation and were therefore excluded in the previous reports. The extracts include income, internally generated funds, expenditure, operational results, and assets and liabilities of the Assemblies. Report of the Auditor-General on the public accounts of District Assemblies 6 for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 PART II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Submission of annual accounts 11. For the 2018 financial year, 240 Assemblies submitted their 2018 financial statements for audit validation as required by Section 80(1) of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act, 2016 (Act 921). Two newly created Assemblies,