LEGON – The General Assembly of the University of Ghana Students’ Representative Council at its first sitting of the semester, held on Friday, February 7, 2020, passed a resolution calling on the Audit Board to disallow all illegal items of expenditure (amounting to the tune of about GHS 66,000.00) undertaken by the UGSRC Executive Council which the General Assembly did not approve.
This was after the Audit Board in its report on the accounts of the SRC for the first semester of the 2019/2020 academic year cited the spending officers of the SRC ie. the President and the Treasurer, for “incurring expenses which were not budgeted for”.
Debating the Audit Board’s report after its presentation to the General Assembly, the President of the Junior Common Room of the Alexander Adum Kwapong Hall, Divine Edem Kwadzodeh, argued that all expenses which were not budgeted for, but were expended on, are illegal expenditures, and as such whoever was responsible for making or authorizing such illegal expenditures, which has caused financial loss to the SRC, must be surcharged and made to pay back such monies to the Student Fund.
Making reference to the SRC Constitution and the recent case of Occupy Ghana vs the Auditor General, and moving a motion in that regard, the Alex Kwapong Hall JCR President tasked the Audit Board to disallow all such illegal expenditures (about GHS 66,000.00) which were not approved or ratified later by the General Assembly and surcharge such amounts on the SRC officers responsible for making and authorizing such expenses; the failure of which will compel him to seek an order from the Judicial Board enjoining the Audit Board to do so.
Other legislators on the floor of the House joined calls for the surcharging of such monies on the SRC President and the Treasurer within seven days. They have also stated that the officers responsible for such illegal payments have up to seven days to cough up such monies or get ready for impeachment proceedings being instituted against them.
This is a developing story. Legonconnect will keep you updated as and when there are new developments.
