The Deputy Finance Minister, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, says an Auditor-General’s report concerning arrears and payables has emerged that an amount of GHC10.5 million was deposited into a fictitious “Buffer Account” during the previous administration.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, he emphasized that the payment was made to a bank account referred to as the “Buffer Account” at a commercial bank.
However, upon verification, he noted the bank confirmed that no such payment had been received and added the account number provided did not exist in the bank’s records and failed to conform to the bank’s account numbering format.
“Payment of GHC 10.5 million was recorded as having been made into an account named the ‘Buffer Account’ at the commercial bank. Upon verification, the bank confirmed that it had never received such a payment; the account number sighted did not exist in the bank’s record and did not even conform to its numbering format,” he stated.
He further highlighted that the evidence from the audit pointed to a completely fictitious account. As a consequence of this fictitious account, linked to the ‘One District, One Factory’ initiative, he called for a forensic audit of the entire 1D1F scheme.
Ampem assured that the forensic audit will be conducted soon, especially considering that the government is reported to have spent GHC 391 million towards 1D1F interest subsidies by the end of 2024.
Source: Vanessa Elizabeth Nkum
