Sebastian R. Freiku
10 November 2009
Kumasi — The former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Manhyia constituency, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, has called for a forensic audit of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly's accounts, in protest against an audit report which stated that an amount of GH¢239,284 was paid by the KMA, to contractors working on the redevelopment of Abbey's Park, which was initiated by him.
The call was in apparent reaction to a story by The Chronicle last week Monday, headlined "Massive fraud at KMA," in which GH¢239,284 was said to have been injected into the project, which the former NPP presidential aspirant initiated in 2005.
The report said there was no mechanism to verify double payments, since the project was being financed from different sources. "No documents on the project were maintained at the KMA," the report said.
But, Dr. Addo Kufuor, who also served as a Minister of the Interior under ex-President Kufuor's administration, has challenged the findings of the report, in respect of the ¢3.4 billion Ashanti New Town Community Centre Complex, otherwise known as Abbey's Park Project.
Sources close to the former Defence Minister quoted him as saying that it was not true that such an amount had been pumped into the project by the KMA.
He claims that as far as he was concerned, only GH¢80,000 was received from the KMA towards the project.
He would want the forensic audit to trace and establish the disbursement of the whooping GH¢179,284 difference. As a result, Dr. Addo Kufuor is reportedly putting together documentary evidence (receipts) for the perusal of an Audit Implementation Committee, which is yet to take action on the said audit report, which covered the period between July 2007 and December 2008.
The Chronicle has gathered that the KMA initially pledged to support the project with the sum of GH¢50,000, but an additional GH¢30,000 was made, making KMA's total commitment to the project GH¢80,000, which was duly receipted, according to Dr. Addo Kufuor's source.
The Addo Kufuor Ladies Club and Central Market Women Traders Association pledged five bags of cement each, while Mr. Albert Anthony Ampong, then the Metro Co-ordinating Director, donated 10 bags of cement towards the project, with the Westphalian Club pledging to support.
According to Dr. Addo Kufuor, friends contributed about $53,000 initially towards the funding of the project, while about GH¢1,000 was raised at the inauguration in April 2005.
Under the project, the historical Abbey's Park in Kumasi, was to be redeveloped into a modern community facility, to serve as social and recreational center, comprising of a playing field, indoor games hall, offices, and a conference hall on a 0.41-hectare open space.
The project, on completion, is expected to enhance the use of Abbey's Park as a community open space for various activities, including funerals, political rallies, religious crusades, and sports.
Messrs Amalgamated Group prepared the design for the project for execution by Messrs De Porres Limited, as contractors, and was scheduled to be completed in 12 months.
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