Go take your GHC93k from the BBC – A-G orders GBC

The Auditor General has directed the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to recover some GH¢93,203.53 from the BBC after it understated an invoice to the global broadcaster.

The directive is contained in an audit report of the Auditor General into the operations of the state broadcaster.

“Due to weak internal controls on revenue, Transmission Certificates were not issued for some of the activities of the Corporation. We recommended to management to put in place systems to track and record all programmes of the Corporation with Transmission Certificates.

“An invoice issued to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in respect of colocation was under-invoiced by GH¢93,203.53. We advised Management to recover the difference of GH¢93,203.53 from the BBC,” the report noted.

It further said: “The Corporation under-stated revenue realised for the 2014 world cup by GH¢3,464,878.59. We advised Management to update the financial Statements and properly account for the GH¢3,464,878.59, failure of which officers of GBC who were responsible shall be surcharged with the amount.

“Our review of the contract agreement signed between the Ghana Television Consortium and Optimum Media Prime Limited showed that two major financial clauses were amended without approval by the Consortium. We recommended to management to furnish the source of authority for varying portions of the agreement.

“We also requested management to avail documentation in support of outstanding VAT remittances sent to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and advised management to ensure that future agreements are not unilaterally varied by either party”.

“Contrary to Regulation 15(1) and (3) of the Financial Administration Regulation 2004, the Corporation did not remit TV License fees collected from 1993 to 2017 totalling GH¢3,637,754.20 into the Consolidated Fund. We recommended to management to pay the GH¢3,637,754.20 into the Consolidated Fund.

“Due to management’s non-compliance with financial regulations that govern the opening of bank accounts, an amount of GH¢91,300 out of cash received for the 2014 World Cup, was deposited into an unknown bank account at Zenith Bank. We advised management to provide the account name and other details of the account into which the GH¢91,300.00 was paid and furnish the audit team with copies of the bank statement from its inception to 28th February, 2018 for further action”.