Auditor-General tasks PPRSD to recover GH¢1.3m debt from Cocoa Marketing Company  

The Auditor-General has asked the Head of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate to recover an outstanding debt of GH¢1,350,252 from the Cocoa Marketing Company.

The amount was owed the Directorate between February 2019 and December 2020 for the risk-based inspection and phytosanitary certification of cocoa beans in the Western, Greater Accra and Ashanti regions.

The Auditor General made the recommendation in its 2021 Report on the Public Accounts of Ministries, Departments and Other Agencies (MDAs) for the year ended 31 December 2021

It noted that the delay in recovery of the debt was contrary to Regulation 46 of the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378), which noted that a Principal Spending Officer shall ensure that non-tax revenue was efficiently collected and immediately lodged in gross within 24 hours in the designated Consolidated Fund Transit bank accounts

Between April 2020 and May 2020, it was revealed that revenue cheques totalling GH¢50,820.06 presented to Access Bank, which were returned had remained outstanding while 195 used General Counterfoil Receipts (GCRs) from the various revenue collection centres across the country were not submitted for examination.

The report also highlighted that used GCRs at nine collection points used in collecting a total of GH¢1,244,334.00 were not included in the returns submitted to the PPRSD.

“We recommend that the Head of the Directorate should ensure that the Regional Officers provide the GCRs for our inspection failing, which the Regional Officers will be held liable for the amounts collected with the GCRs.

“The Heads of the Directorate and Accounts should immediately liaise with the nine collection centres involved and ensure that the returns for the used GCRs are submitted for review” the report stated.

Source: GNA