Former Member of Parliament for Nhyieso in the Ashanti Region, Kennedy Kankam, has been indicted by the Auditor-General for distributing a chunk of his common fund as loans that have not been recovered.
Mr Kankam, who is aspiring to be Mayor of Kumasi, has been directed to retrieve all the GH¢500,000 of his constituency’s common fund which he gave out as loans to 430 people in his constituency.
According to the audit report, Mr Kankam together with erstwhile Finance Officer, Mr Daniel Kofi Kamkam, and the Coordinating Director, Mr Samuel Donkor, transferred a total amount of GH₵500,000 from the MPs Constituency Labour Project Fund and Social Investment Fund to Barclays Bank Ghana Limited (currently Absa Bank Ltd.), Kroform Branch Suspense Account for onward disbursement to 430 people on loan, recoverable by August 2020.
“But as at January 2021, no recovery had been made, thus exposing the Assembly to a high risk of losing the GHȼ500,000.00, which could have funded projects to the benefit of the entire community.
“We recommended that the MP (Hon. Kennedy Kwasi Kamkam), the erstwhile Finance Officer and Coordinating Director (Mr Daniel Kofi Kamkam and Mr Samuel Donkor respectively) as well as the Absa Bank, Krofrom branch should take steps to recover the amount of GH₵500,000.00 into the KMA Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso Common Fund account,†portions of the audit report read.
The report also noted that the distribution of the loans did not follow due procedure because the Assembly’s lawyer was not a party to the signed Memorandum of Understanding and also there was no signed agreement with the beneficiaries.
According to the report, this did not safeguard the Assembly’s interest.
Read the full audit report below.