The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), during its second day of sittings in Takoradi in the Western Region, has sent three Senior High Schools and their officials to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution.
This is because of procurement problems found in the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report.
The schools involved are Breman Essikuma Technical Institute, Eguafo Senior High School, and Efutu Senior High School, all located in the Central Region.
During his interview today, May 5, the Ranking Member of the Committee, Samuel Atta Mills, said the decision was taken because many of the schools did not follow the proper procurement rules.
He pointed out a specific case involving Eguafo Senior High School, where items worth GH¢122,192 were bought from 19 different suppliers without going through the required competitive process.
He described this as unacceptable.
“There are so many issues with procurement, and I have referred three institutions. What you are supposed to do is that before you get into any kind of procurement, you are supposed to get three bids, and then you pick the best, but most of them just pick one.
“In fact, in one of the schools, when they went to a purveyor to get an invoice, the purveyor didn’t want to give it to them because he already knew they were going to pick somebody else.
“They only wanted his receipts just to put them out there for the auditors. So if you are working on procurements you need to follow the rules,” Mr Mills noted.
