EOCO Probe Pusiga District

The Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) has commenced investigation into how the Pusiga District Assembly seed money was expended. Members of the Pusiga Assembly expressed satisfaction with the investigation. For them, the outcome of the investigation would lay to rest suspicion surrounding how the Assembly�s GH�1,000,000 was spent on its behalf by the Bawku Municipal Assembly, which had oversight responsibility at the time the new district was inaugurated in June, 2012. The Pusiga District Chief Executive, Alhassan Abugbilla announced the EOCO investigation in his address at the first ordinary meeting of the second session of the Assembly at Pusiga. The announcement was greeted with excitement by the Assembly Members since the investigation, according to them, would help the Assembly to get answers from the Bawku Municipal Assembly on how GH�1,000,000 belonging to the Pusiga District was spent. Some Assembly members told DAILY GUIDE that several efforts, including a letter written to the then Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Owen Woyongo to encourage the leadership of the Bawku Municipal Assembly to provide answers proved futile, thereby creating a negative impression about the Bawku Municipal Assembly. The Pusiga District was among new districts created by President Atta Mills ahead of the 2012 elections. The Pusiga District, like the Binduri District, was created out of the Bawku Municipal Assembly and so the former had oversight responsibility. It was for this reason that Pusiga District�s seed money was channeled through the Bawku Municipal Assembly to be spent on infrastructure projects. As part of the EOCO investigation, the Pusiga District Chief Executive, Alhassan Abugbilla and the District Coordinating Director, were invited to meet the Upper East Regional Head of EOCO on March 7, 2013 to volunteer information on the disbursement of the money. The current facility being used as office space for the District Chief Executive and District Coordinating Director was built in 2007 to serve as a Community ICT Center. It had an air conditioner at the time the Pusiga District was created. In order to upgrade the facility to befit the status of the DCE and DCD, a portion of the building was renovated. Furniture, curtains and carpets were provided. The Assembly is still using the Area Council furniture and the office accommodating the District Finance Officer was also painted. Two rooms in that office also were converted into wash rooms. These are the visible investments that were made before the take-off of the Pusiga District. Almost all the Assembly members, who spoke to the DAILY GUIDE, were not happy with the silence of the leadership of the Bawku Municipal Assembly over the matter. They called on EOCO to perform diligent work to ensure that every pesewa was accounted for by the leadership of the Bawku Municipal Assembly. Meanwhile, the newly created Binduri District Assembly has raised similar issues with the leadership of the Bawku Municipal Assembly, who refused to indicate how the seed money was expended. A source close to the Assembly said the Binduri District Assembly also wrote a letter to the Bawku Municipal Assembly over the matter. The Bawku Municipal Assembly, in a response, said they would only offer answers to the Local Government Ministry.