Bolgatanga, Aug. 30,GNA – The Public Accounts Committee(PAC) has warned Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs) not to circumvent the Procurement Act but rely on its letters in awarding contracts.

The Committee issued the warning in Bolgatanga when MMDAs in the three Northern Regions appeared before it.

The Committee cited an instance in the Yendi District where the Assembly approved a colossal sum of 188,064 Ghana cedis for contract works without following due procedures.

Mr. Amadu Seidu, a member of PAC, told the Assemblies that there were limits to sums of money they could approve of and stressed that in situations where money meant for contract or any procurement purpose must necessarily be referred to the Regional Coordinating Council which would action.

Another issue that attracted the attention of the PAC was that most of the Assemblies have not been able to retrieve loans that were given two years ago under the Poverty Alleviation Fund citing the Yendi District as example.

Members of the Committee noted that 82,870 Cedis that was disbursed had not been recovered.

Mr. Albert Kan Dapaah, Chairman of PAC, stressed the need for Assemblies to ensure that such loans were recovered to enable others to also benefit.

It was also revealed that the MMDAs did not follow the due process in disbursing the Member of Parliament Common Fund and that most of the MPs were not aware of how their funds were being administered at the Assembly level.

The PAC entreated the MMDAs to always consult MPs on issues relating to the spending of their share of the Common Fund so as to ensure transparency and accountability.

It was also established that one of the areas where government funds were siphoned was the Transport unit of most of the MMDAs. The Committee therefore called for effective monitoring mechanism and practice to stop the menace.

Mr. Dapaah stressed that the committee as a body was not happy about developments at the Assemblies particularly, on expenditure and entreated the MMDAs to institute punitive measures instead of just issuing verbal warnings to officials who abused funds belonging to the Assemblies.