The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Yakubu Seidu Adam, to refund GH¢113,000 to the state.
The directive follows the hospital’s failure to recover the sum from officers whose negligence led to the payment of two separate judgment debts. One case involved a patient’s death due to an overdose of medication, while the other concerned the exhumation and reburial of a body after a mix-up in mortal remains.
During a stern exchange with the PAC, Ranking Member Samuel Atta-Mills asked: “We recommended that the Acting Chief Executive Officer should recover the total amount of GHc113,000 from the officers whose negligence occasioned the payment of Judgement debt and same paid into the Auditor General’s Recoveries Account at Bank of Ghana, failing which the Acting Chief Executive Officer should pay. Have you done that?”
In response, Dr. Adam admitted the hospital had not been able to recover the funds: “Hon. Chair, we haven’t done that,” he said, before attempting to explain the delay.
The Ranking Member, however, cut in sharply to emphasise accountability and issue a clear directive: “Our Chief Executive Officer, we give you 90 days to pay this 113,000.”
The PAC’s directive underscores the committee’s commitment to enforcing financial accountability in state institutions and ensuring that lapses resulting in avoidable compensation payments are promptly addressed.
