Ranking Member of Parliament for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Samuel Atta Mills, has accused the Ministry of Health of presiding over what he described as an “organised crime” after 596 staff defaulted on loans secured under the Ministry’s car revolving fund. The defaults have accumulated into a debt of about GH¢10 million, with approximately GH¢8 million still outstanding.
Officials of the Ministry of Health, who appeared before the PAC, disclosed that some beneficiaries had cancelled the standing orders established for the monthly repayment of their loans. The officials attributed the repayment difficulties to weaknesses in the Ministry’s internal control mechanisms.
However, Mr Atta Mills rejected the explanation, accusing the Ministry of attempting to shift responsibility to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) after submitting a list of beneficiaries to the authority.
“You are passing the buck. You’ve given the list to the DVLA. Was it DVLA who gave them those cars? Was it DVLA who organised that crime?” he questioned.
The Ranking Member called on the Ministry to establish a dedicated recovery unit or team to retrieve vehicles from beneficiaries who had defaulted on their loan obligations.
“What you need to do is to have a recovery unit. A recovery unit or a recovery team who will go and collect all these cars. Somebody who will stop you in the middle of the highway and take the car away from you because you got it fraudulently,” he said.
Mr Atta Mills further criticised the Ministry for failing to take responsibility for the lapses, arguing that institutions involved in administering the scheme should not blame one another for weaknesses in its implementation. “We organise this crime and we blame everybody else while we are the criminals,” he said.
