Ranking Member of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Samuel Atta Mills, has accused the Ministry of Health of what he described as an “organised crime” after 596 beneficiaries of its car revolving fund failed to repay their loans.
The defaults have left about GH¢10 million in debt, with approximately GH¢8 million still outstanding, according to information presented to the PAC.
The issue came to light when officials of the Ministry of Health appeared before the Committee on Thursday to account for the administration of the car revolving fund.
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Officials told the PAC that some beneficiaries had cancelled the standing orders that had been established to facilitate monthly repayment of their loans.
The Ministry attributed the repayment difficulties partly to weaknesses in its internal control systems.
But the explanation drew a sharp response from Mr Atta Mills stating, “This is interesting, we know these people don’t qualify to drive cars because of their salaries and then we bypass the system, we give them the cars and they choose when and how they are going to pay.”
“If this is not an organised crime, I don’t know what else it is. This is organised crime being encouraged by the Minister of Health.
He accused the Ministry of attempting to shift responsibility to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) after officials claimed they have forwarded a list of the cars to the authority to trace.
“You are passing the buck. You’ve given the list to the DVLA. Was it DVLA who gave them those cars? Was it DVLA who organised that crime?” he asked.
The PAC Ranking Member said the Ministry should take direct steps to recover vehicles from beneficiaries who had failed to honour their repayment obligations.
“What you need to do is to have a recovery unit. A recovery unit or a recovery team who will go and collect all these cars,” he said.
Mr Atta Mills argued that the Ministry could not rely on other institutions to resolve a problem arising from the administration of its own vehicle financing scheme.
He maintained that stronger recovery mechanisms were needed to protect public funds and prevent beneficiaries from retaining vehicles while failing to meet their financial obligations.
The Ranking Member criticised what he described as an attempt by institutions involved in the scheme to shift blame rather than accept responsibility for weaknesses in its implementation.
“We organise this crime, and we blame everybody else while we are the criminals,” he said.
“Now, those people who have passed on and who have retired, who haven’t paid — do you have the list? Because I’ll be more than happy to name them, so that a son may be driving his father’s car, who has passed on, but that car hasn’t been paid for. And what he’s doing is he’s flexing with the car. Come and pay,” he declared.
His comments came as the PAC scrutinised the Ministry’s handling of the car revolving fund and the recovery of loans owed by beneficiaries.
The outstanding debt has raised questions about the effectiveness of the Ministry’s internal controls, particularly the mechanisms used to monitor beneficiaries and ensure regular deductions.
The Auditor-General has also previously identified significant outstanding loans and advances involving Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service employees under vehicle financing arrangements.
The PAC is expected to continue examining the matter as it seeks explanations on the outstanding loans, the cancelled standing orders and measures being taken to recover the public funds.