Koforidua, June 12, GNA - The New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Adjei Boateng, said government would ensure that grants meant for public health projects do not become conduit for unscrupulous people to amass wealth.

He said there were indications that some people were attempting to use such funds for their personal gains and warned that government would introduce stringent measure to nip this in the bud.

Nana Adjei Boateng gave the caution when he, on behalf of Assembly signed a 125-million-cedi contract with nine Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) at Koforidua on Friday.

The grant, which was provided by the Ghana AIDS Commission, would be used in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the New Juaben Municipality.

Some of the beneficiary CBOs that received about 13 million cedis each included the Ghana Pensioners Association, the Non-formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education, Talent Focus and Kaba Ladies. Nana Adjei Boateng advised the CBOs to manage the funds transparently and to allow auditing bodies to look into the accounting books.

He also cautioned them CBOs against frivolous spending and cited that some CBOs spent as much as 60 per cent of their budget on refreshment.

Nana Boateng observed that some CBOs were established for only accessing funds but were not firmly on the ground and said they risked being heavily fined if investigations revealed that they provided the assembly with fictitious information.

The Krontihene of New Juaben Traditional Area, Nana Adjei Tufour commended the government for efforts being made to fight HIV/AIDS in the country and appealed to Ghanaians to support AIDS programmes. Mr Abubakari Alhassan, on behalf of the beneficiary groups, promised that the grants would be used for the intended projects.