Ranking Member on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Samuel Atta Mills, has criticised the Ministry of Health over the alleged failure to recover about GH¢10 million in car loans, describing the arrangement as “organised crime”.
Mr Atta Mills made the remarks when officials of the Ministry of Health appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on October 8 to respond to concerns over vehicles provided to officials under a car loan arrangement.
According to the Ranking Member, some beneficiaries who, in his view, did not qualify to drive official vehicles based on their salaries were nevertheless provided with cars under arrangements that allowed them to determine when and how they would repay the loans.
“We know these people don’t qualify to drive cars because of their salaries, and then we bypass the system. We give them their cars, and they choose when and how they are going to pay,” he said.
He questioned the rationale behind the arrangement and expressed concern over the ministry’s approach to recovering outstanding amounts from beneficiaries.
“If this isn’t organised crime, I don’t know what else it is. This is organised crime, being encouraged by the Minister of Health,” Mr Atta Mills said.
Questions over retired and deceased beneficiaries
The Ranking Member also raised concerns about beneficiaries who have either retired from public service or died without fully settling their car loans.
He demanded a comprehensive list of such beneficiaries, suggesting that some vehicles could still be in the possession of relatives despite outstanding payments.
‘Put a stop to it’
Mr Atta Mills called on the Minister of Health to take immediate steps to recover the outstanding vehicles and funds.
“This is organised crime, Minister of Health. Put a stop to it,” he said.
His concerns centred particularly on the recovery process and the responsibility of the Ministry of Health to ensure that vehicles issued under the arrangement are either fully paid for or recovered where beneficiaries fail to meet the terms of the arrangement.
Ranking Member challenges DVLA explanation
The PAC Ranking Member also rejected an explanation that the list of beneficiaries or vehicles had been forwarded to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
He questioned why the DVLA should be expected to resolve a matter that originated from the Ministry of Health.
“Was it DVLA who gave them those cars? Was it DVLA who organised that crime?” he asked.
According to Mr Atta Mills, responsibility for recovering the vehicles rests primarily with the institution that provided them.
He therefore called for the establishment of a dedicated recovery unit or team within the Ministry to pursue beneficiaries who have failed to honour their obligations.
“What you need to do is you need to have a recovery unit, or a recovery team who will go and collect all these cars,” he said.
Calls for aggressive recovery
Mr Atta Mills argued that the Ministry must take stronger measures to retrieve vehicles where beneficiaries obtained them without meeting the applicable requirements or have failed to repay the associated loans.
He suggested that a dedicated recovery team should be empowered to identify vehicles and take steps to retrieve them where necessary.
“Somebody who will stop you in the middle of the highway and take the car away from you because you got it fraudulently,” he said.
He accused the Ministry of shifting responsibility to other institutions instead of directly addressing the recovery of the vehicles.
“You organised this crime, and then you blame everybody else. Whilst you are the criminals,” he added.
The confrontation at the Public Accounts Committee highlights concerns over the management and recovery of government-backed vehicle loans, particularly where beneficiaries have retired, died or allegedly failed to meet repayment obligations.
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