THE PUBLIC Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament yesterday subjected high ranking officials of the Ghana Police Service to critical scrutiny over the performance of the Service, with respect to their residential accommodation, as they cry out for more housing facilities.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Paul Tawiah Quaye, Director of Finance, Dr. George A. Danpare; Estate Officer, DSP Joshua Copson and other senior officers of the Police, appeared before the PAC to answer queries in the report of the Auditor-General on the Management of the Ghana Police Residential Accommodation, some of which have led to poor or lack of housing for the police.

Interior Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) for Zebilla, Cletus Apul Avoka, who is responsible for the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies, was in full force, backing the IGP and his lieutenants to answer some nagging questions in the Auditor-General (A-G’s) report.

The audit report revealed that the Police Administration failed to properly plan and make adequate budgetary allocations for its building projects.

It indicated, for instance, that a three story building project which was started in 1999 to house police personnel in Yendi, in the Northern Region, was abandoned after an amount of GH¢13,713.41 or 21.3 per cent of the contract sum had been paid to two contractors apparently on the same day, resulting in wasteful expenditure.

The project, according to the report, was originally awarded to Messrs Yussman at a contract sum of GH¢64,380.69 to commence on July 19, 1999 and to be completed on July 19, 2002.

Surprisingly though, according to the audit report, the contract was again awarded to a second contractor, Messrs Sam Zakari, at the same contract sum to commence on the same date with same completion period of July 19, 2002.

What the Auditor-General (A-G) queried was why the contract was given to a second contractor on the same date and payment of GH¢6,532.80 or about ¢65.33million and GH¢7,180.60 or ¢71.806million respectively made to the two contractors.

Although the Police Administration blamed the failure to complete the building on the schedule and its abandonment on a lack of funds, they recommended further investigations by the Police Service to determine culpability and recovery of the amount from those liable.

Answering the query on the issue, the Director of Finance, Dr. George Danpare, had one of hell a time trying to justify the payments, saying records available to him indicated that each of the contractors was given a different contract to build two buildings with similar designs.

According to him, the two projects were labeled plot A and B, adding that a letter issued by the then Minister for the Interior, Mr. Okaidja Adamafio, requested that the Minister of Finance release funds for the payment of building plot B, indicating that there was plot A.

IGP, Paul Quaye, told the PAC that poor or lack of accommodation for police has greatly affected performance and has seriously demoralized the personnel as they have to use part of their meager salary to augment the allocation for their accommodation.

He said there is the need to adequately address the distressing issue of accommodation for the police, in order to achieve the desired results of providing every officer with good accommodation. He added that his administration has already taken stock of all abandoned projects with the view of sourcing funds for their completion.

It has been uncovered by the report from the Auditor-General that there is also overcrowding in police barracks because the service does not have enough residential accommodation.

Even more worrying, according to the Police Administration, is the fact that only 42 per cent of its officers are accommodated while 58 per cent are in makeshift structures, with existing conditions in the barracks in a poor state and likely to get worse with a planned increase in personnel intake.

Minister for the Interior, Mr. Cletus Avoka said, “If we want to depend on the police to be able to fight crime, then we have a collective responsibility to motivate them by way of basic accommodation for their comfort”.

He urged Members of Parliament to lobby for more funds from the Mid-Year budgetary, which will be considered when the House is recalled on August 25, 2009, to help solve the accommodation problem of the police service.

The chairman of PAC, Albert Kan-Dapaah, thanked the IGP and his men for appearing before the Committee to answer, “queries in a frank manner”, saying the Committee will input their observations into its recommendation for the consideration of the House, with the view of solving the accommodation problem of the police.

He also praised the Auditor-General and his staff for coming out with the innovative performance audit, which will go a long way to streamline the activities of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).