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The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has directed the Ministry of Transport to take legal action against The Trust Bank (TTB)/Ecobank, for failing to refund GH¢82,595 that the bank wrongly took from the accounts of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) with the bank in 2012.

The PAC gave the directive following a revelation by the 2012 Auditor-General's Report that between March 2010 and December 2011, the Ministry of Transport wrongfully paid GH¢82,595 to TTB cashiers as their salaries for services rendered to the DVLA account with the bank.

According to the report, the Ministry of Finance entered into an agreement with TTB, now merged with Ecobank, for the bank to place cashiers at the designated collection points of the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), to receive payments on behalf of the MDAs.

It said under the agreement, no commission or service charge was to be paid by the Ministry of Finance or the MDAs for the services rendered by the bank.

However, the report said contrary to the terms of the contract, the Ministry of Transport paid GH¢82,595 to the staff of TTB in 2012.

The report, therefore, recommended that the money should be retrieved from TTB/Ecobank.

PAC's position

The Chairman of the PAC, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said once the agreement stipulated that no money was to be paid for the services rendered by the cashiers of the bank, any money paid them was an infraction.

He contended that once Ecobank had taken over TTB, it inherited TTB's assets and liabilities, and, therefore, Ecobank was bound under the law to refund the money.

Mr Agyeman-Manu said the Ministry of Transport should get a lawyer to initiate legal processes to seek a refund of the money.

Ministry's response

The Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Joyce Bawa Mogtari, and directors of the ministry told the PAC sitting yesterday that Ecobank had not released the money to the ministry despite several correspondences to that effect.

Mrs Mogtari said the ministry had started demanding the refund of the money from Ecobank but indicated that the bank "has not been proactive" on the issue.

She said the ministry would take the advice of the PAC to bring closure to the issue.