The investigation panel set up by the Accountant General of the Federation, AGF, has cleared the Director of Finance and Account, Ministry of Justice, Luka Kadmi, of wrongdoing since “the payment was done with necessary approval from the approving authority”.
This was contained in a memo seen by Quest Times Tuesday, and signed by Mr Anamekwe C.N Director, Treasury Inspectorate on behalf of the Accountant General of the Federation.
“That the allegation bordering on money in “Ghana must go” bags Bureau De Change etc could not be substantiated with facts by the petitioner and the team considered it null and void,” the memo partly read.
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The panel also justified Mr Luka’s action in the expenditure as all the expenditures incurred by the ministry in November-December 2021 were in the appropriation act of 2021, that no payment was made in the ministry without the approval of the Solicitor General/Permanent Secretary.
The panel also unraveled that, the payment made through the account of the project accountant, was due to the fact that the beneficiaries were not on the GIFMIS Employee payable module whose payment to such Individuals could be possible only through an intermediary.
All the payment vouchers were prepared according to the provision of Financial Regulation i.e the PV’s were checked and entered into the vote book and checked by the Internal Audit.
The panel advised that the petitioner should always verify facts before writing on matters relating to government expenditure and should be made to be aware of the consequence of wrong whistleblowing.
The panel further advised the federal ministry of justice to ensure compliance with all necessary rules/guidelines regarding government expenditure to avoid complacency.
Recall that the Integrity And Transparency Watchdog had in the past written the Accountant General of the Federation for investigation and prosecution of Mr Joshua Luka Kadmi and one Abuh Danjuma over the missing N104, 842, 800 from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Ministry of Justice.
