<<Print>>

Tension is mounting on the campus of the University of Education Winneba (UEW), Kumasi, in connection with the acquisition of a 55-seater bus, as an independent audit report of the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the University has revealed financial malfeasance on the part of the executives.

A report sighted by The Chronicle has revealed that a Mercedes Benz Tourismo bus, supposed to have cost the SRC GH¢171,948.63, has been ballooned to GH¢260,000 by the executives.  The funds of students of University of Education Winneba campus in Kumasi are under fraudulent usage, as the Student Representative Council (SRC) executives hemorrhage the accounts of the SRC, like the inflated cost of the SRC coach.

A document (Determination of Assessable Value on Value) and duties and taxes intercepted by The Chronicle from the Ghana Revenue Authority-Customs, in connection with the said over-aged vehicle, disclosed previous charges by the GRA as GH¢129,051.85 and the duties and taxes of GH¢42,896.83, amounting to a grand total of GH¢171.948.68.

But a binding agreement between the SRC and the Sunyani-based Samang Ventures, which sold the car to the UEW, says the coach is GH¢260,000, amounting to an increase of GH¢88,000, as stated in the vehicle purchasing agreement. In a vehicle purchase contract between the UCE-K SRC, it said the amount agreed on the purchase price and delivery to the first party (UCE-K) and the first party upon signing of the agreement shall release half of the funds for the purchase of the coach to the second party, as part payment of the bus in question.

The agreement stated that the amount will be paid in installments, with the last installment on delivery. But The Chronicle has gathered some financial malpractices as payment vouchers did not reconcile cheques issued in payment. “Payments of some debts were written in the names of authorising signatories instead of respective creditors, and five percent tax withholding on all projects above (50.00) was not deducted by the SRC and local National Union of Graduate Teachers (NUGS), as required by Internal Revenue Act 2000,” the report stated.

The report said GH¢2,228 paid to one Mr. Carl Mawule Atitse had no documents to show such an amount was owed by the SRC, adding that GH¢4,000 and GH¢1,568 had no source documents. The audit report also revealed that that some of the executive committee members were not privy to all contract and agreements between the SRC and other parties. All payment vouchers were not signed by internal audit and the vice dean of students’ before cheques were written, though it is an indispensable requirement.

At his December sessional address, the SRC President, Mr. Andrews Amponsah, told the local assembly that acquisition of the SRC bus was 65 percent complete, but a document intercepted by The Chronicle revealed that sometime, in October 2014, the UEW-K SRC executives, including the President, Financial Secretary and the Vice Dean of Students Affairs, Mr. Michael K. Tsorgali, went into agreement with Sunyani-based SAMANG Ventures, which saw, Mr. Baffour Gyau Prince, Director of the said company, and one Mr. Samuel Nana Agyekum, appending their signatures to the document as a binding contract.

The Chronicle gathered that the SRC defied the Public Procurement Act and purchased the bus without any competitive tendering as required by law, and that the purchase of the Mercedes Benz Tourismo bus was never discussed at the local assembly level of the school, so the students were unaware of the nature of the bus. The Chairman of the Transport Committee of the UEW-K SRC, Mr. Samson Opoku, confirmed to The Chronicle that his committee was not informed about the purchase of the 15-year-old German coach.

Andrews Amponsah told this reporter on telephone that they gave the firm a contract to get the SRC a bus with their description, but without factoring in the age. He disclosed that the sale of the bus went through the Public Procurement Act and three organisations applied for the contract, but only one came forward with an invoice.

On the payments of debt in the name of authorising signatories of SRC instead of the respective creditors, Amponsah stated that they stated all the figures in their expenditure. Quizzed about consulting of the Transport Committee Chairman before purchasing the coach, he declined to comment, saying the issue is before the student court.

The Vice Dean of Students Affairs, Mr. Michael K. Tsorgali, who is a signatory to the SRC account, told this reporter that the coach did not pass through the Procurement Act. He admitted that they have bought an over-aged bus, and defended that he did not know the type of bus the SRC requested.

The Vice Dean claimed he wrote to the SRC about the coach, and later invited the SRC President, Vice and, the Director of Samang Ventures, who provided the coach, demanding the rationale behind the purchase of a 15-year-old bus, which is, grossly against the procurement act of the school, but the SRC executive was just giving excuses and did not listen to him.

Mr. Tsorgali further disclosed that a committee had been appointed to unravel why the transport committee was sidelined in the purchase of the coach.  Responding to a question about his signature on a binding document between the UEW-K and Samang Ventures, which stated that the coach cost GH¢260,000, Dean Tsorgali revealed that the true cost of the coach is GH¢171.948.68, and that the GH¢260,000 was the initial figure.

But the Director of Samang, Baffour Gyau Prince told The Chronicle that the coach cost GH¢260,000, and that the school is still owing him, but refused to mention how much.