Ghana Shippers Authority owed ¢3.6m in rent revenue – Auditor General’s Report

Tenants of Ghana Shippers Authority’s facilities who failed to honour their rent obligations have contributed to revenue losses of over ¢3.6 million.

The Auditor General says the tenants have breached their lease agreement which had stipulated that they pay their rent in advance.

This was contained in the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts – Public Boards, Corporations and other statutory institutions for the period ended 31 December 2020.

The Auditor-General’s report has revealed that 8 out of 16 tenants “occupying portions of Accra Shippers House and Takoradi Shippers Centre owed rent to the tune of GH¢3,692,457.71 as at 31 December 2020.”

This amount ranges from 4 to 48 months and has denied the Authority rent revenue of the said figure if not recovered.

The audit was conducted in accordance with Section 14 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584) for presentation to Parliament in accordance with Section 20 of the Act.

“Management attributed the cause of the arrears as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which affected the activities of some of the Companies who subsequently appealed for waivers as well as additional time to reorganise and pay,” portions of the report read.

The Auditor General subsequently called on the Ghana Shippers’ Authority to pursue the defaulters or terminate the tenancy agreement.

After the findings, the GSA management blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the arrears.

In the Authority’s response, it explained that the pandemic affected the “activities of some of the Companies who subsequently appealed for waivers as well as additional time to reorganise and pay.”

Meanwhile, a total of ¢17.4 billion in financial irregularities have been flagged by the Auditor-General in its latest report submitted to parliament for the 2021 financial year.

This represents a 36% rise compared to that of 2020.

Source: Kenneth Awotwe Darko