The Forestry Commission (FC) noted in the 2021 Auditor General’s Report a loss of GH 51 million, primarily in the field of goods and services.
The sum paid for uniforms and equipment for the Youth in Afforestation Programme.
On Wednesday, the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John Allotey, acknowledged this before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.
The report also said that the kids involved in afforestation were owed allowances for more than a year. The last payment was provided to the youth in May of last year.
Mr Allotey stated that the commission was working feverishly to pay the outstanding balance, but that this was reliant on how quickly the Ministry of Finance delivered the funds.
Dr James Klutse Avedzi, Chairman of the Committee, asked the CEO what advantage Ghana was getting from the scheme.
Mr. Allotey stated that the kids assisted in the planting of trees and the protection of the commission’s boundaries.
According to the study, several of the companies with which the commission did business owed the commission GH6.1 million.
Mr Allotey responded that GH3.2 million had been recovered from the entities, some of which were now defunct.
The Lands Commission was also chastised in the report for failing to get title deeds from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) for a GHS2 million residential property bought from it.
However, Jones Ofori-Boadu, the Lands Commission’s Deputy Executive Secretary (Corporate Services), stated that a procedure had been launched and was well underway to obtain the appropriate papers.
He told the committee that the materials will be ready in three months.
