EX-SPEAKER IS 'HOT' * He's to return items worth GH¢1.6 m to state * But claims he yet to be officially officially informed

Front Page: Daily Graphic, May 14, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE former Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes, is to return to the state items worth ¢1.6 billion which he took away from the Speaker’s bungalow upon his retirement from office last year.
He is also to pay GH¢1 billion for some of the items and keep the rest, which were valued at GH¢368 million at no cost to him.
These are some of the recommendations made by a parliamentary ad hoc committee chaired by the Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, which was constituted to investigate allegations that the former Speaker had taken away household appliances valued at ¢4.5 billion from the bungalow at Cantonments in Accra.
The items include furniture, curtains, paintings, generators, carpets, gymnasium and kitchen equipment, rugs from Morocco, electrical appliances, among others.
The committee, which was to ascertain from the inventory which of the items could be disposed of, returned or depreciated and sold to the former Speaker, noted that the decision in respect of Mr Sekyi Hughes “should be considered as a one-off event, pending putting in place a well-defined policy”.
It said its findings and recommendations were based on the advice of officials of the Prestige Wing of the Public Works Department (PWD) and the fact that no internal policy on the disposal of soft furnishings could be cited.
It noted the non-existence of a policy on the disposal of soft furnishing items for the leadership and senior officers of the Parliamentary Service as a grey area and asked the Parliamentary Service Board to “put in place a policy to forestall the recurrence of the current state of affairs”.
According to the report, which the committee has submitted to the Parliamentary Service Board, discourse with officials of the PWD Prestige Wing revealed the non-existence of a hard and fast policy on the provision and disposal of soft furnishings in the Civil Service.
It said the established convention in the Civil Service, however, was that soft items provided for the official residences of the Vice-President, ministers and chief directors remained in-situ when the beneficiaries left office.
It pointed out that inventories of soft furnishing items provided for official residences were taken upon occupation and on exit of the occupants.
“As regards the Public and the Judiciary services, officials from PWD Prestige confirmed that the entities within those institutions have varied policies on soft furnishing which were self-regulated,” it added.
The committee noted that the general practice for restocking soft furnishing items such as living and bedroom furniture in the public services differed from organisation to organisation but generally most organisations restocked furniture after four or five years.
It said in the Civil Service, furniture restocking was done after eight years and indicated that “prior to that, furniture with torn or damaged upholstery which could be re-used is sent for re-upholstery and used in either offices or official residences. The last resort is auctioning”.
On a depreciation policy for assets, it said the officials of PWD Prestige indicated that the best practice was for all institutions to have one depreciation policy for all its assets.
According to the committee, as to whether fixtures and electrical fittings, chandeliers in particular, taken away from official residence should be returned, the officials of PWD Prestige held the view that payment be demanded on items from the occupant due to the fragile nature of those items.
“However, in circumstances where the replacement cost is high and could not be readily borne by the institution, the fittings could be demanded to be returned,” officials of PWD Prestige noted to the committee.
It said in determining the items that could be disposed of to the former Speaker, the committee was advised to be guided by the internal policy on the disposal of soft furnishing items, the current cost of replacement, year of acquisition, the possibility of the items being returned in good condition/original state and the likelihood of setting precedence.
The committee said officials from PWD Prestige advised that all electrical gadgets/appliances, fittings and fixtures and gymnastic equipment and its accessories taken away by the former Speaker should be returned.
“Further, the officials advised that since items such as curtains, carpets and bed sheets were normally acquired based on occupants’ taste and preference, they could be disposed of. Beds and mattresses may also be disposed of. Other kitchen items and crockery used for a period of four years were also to be disposed of,” it said.
The Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu Committee was set up after an inspection by a team of officials from Parliament of the former Speaker’s official residence on March 3, this year had revealed that Mr Sekyi Hughes had taken away soft furnishings in his residence worth GH¢330,000.
The cost did not include the beds and mattresses purchased for the residency and rooms and imported items, including furniture, hand-woven carpets and rugs from Morocco.
When the former Speaker was reached for his comments, he told the Daily Graphic that he had no knowledge of the report and recommendations of the committee chaired by the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.
He said, however, that he received a letter on May 5, 2009, from Parliament inquiring about the whereabouts of the items in his official residence.
Mr Hughes stated that he was yet to respond to that letter but indicated that would be able to give a reply by the end of the week.
He said it was unfortunate that the said report got to the media without first being referred to him.