Out of the 41 farmers, only 16 have been paid compensation so far, although the money had been released to the MoFA for onward payment to beneficiaries, since 2022.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament issued the ultimatum in Ac­cra yesterday, when officials of the MoFA appeared before the committee, to provide responses to audit infractions captured in the 2022 Auditor General’s report.

The report found that following the re­lease of GH¢1,999,768.10 by the Ministry of Finance for the payment of compen­sation to farmers affected by the out­break of disease from 2015 to 2018, only GH¢191,730.00 was paid to 10 farmers, leaving GH¢1,808,038.10 unaccounted for.

In response, Abdul Rashid Tahi­ru, Financial Controller, MoFA, noted that following the audit, an additional GH¢345,000 had been paid to some affected farmers, who presented the birds’ destruction certificate.

He explained that the farmers, who were yet to receive compensation, failed to sub­mit the relevant documentation, including the destruction certificate and personal bank details for onward processing for payment.

Mr Tahiru said the release from the Min­istry of Finance covered birds destroyed from 2015 to 2018 and 2021 due to the outbreak of the disease.

He added that “currently, we have paid compensation to all the farmers who had their birds destroyed in 2021. Those yet to be paid were affected in 2015 to 2018 and we are expecting them to submit the necessary documentation to MoFA for onward payment.”

Queried on whether the farmers were aware of the release of the money, Mr Tahiru, said all regional veterinary officers were directed to inform the farmers of the availability of the compensation for them to contact the MoFA for payment.

Deputy Minister of MoFA, Yaw Frim­pong Addo, said although the ministry took inventory of all the farmers, the pre­sentation of the document was a require­ment before payment could be effected.

He gave the assurance that the MoFA was prepared to transfer the compensation (money) to the affected farmers.

Not satisfied by the responses, Chairman of PAC, Dr James Klutse Avedzi, direct­ed that the MoFA complete the payment of compensation within a month to the farmers who were going through various challenges.

He asked MoFA to intensify efforts and pay affected farmers their compensation, to avoid the impression that gov­ernment was not doing anything after destroying the birds.

“We are giving you one month to complete the disbursements to these af­fected farmers. The money is idling in the ministry’s account with the value go­ing down while at the same time, our farmers suffer,” Dr Avedzi stated.

Member of Parliament (MP) of Bole Bamboi, and member of the committee, Mr Yusif Sulemana, said delays in the payment of compensation to the farmers was a contributing factor in some poultry farms being out of business.

He therefore, tasked the MoFA to iden­tify the affected farmers and help address their challenges.

Mr Kofi Adams, MP for Buem, and member of the committee, cautioned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) against misuse of funds, saying that the misapplication of funds and lack­adaisical attitude by officials in using state funds was detrimental to the realisation of project targets.