FDB Boss Must Go – PNF

By Samuel Boadi

A PRESSURE group, Progressive Nationalist Forum (PNF), has petitioned President Mills to remove Seth Opuni, CEO of the Food & Drugs Board (FDB) from office as soon as practicable due to his extravagant lifestyle which is believed to have cost the board huge sums of money.
According to the group, Dr Opuni’s alleged renting of a residential accommodation in Accra (near Kanda) for US$84,000 (US$3,500 per month for 24 months) flouted Government’s policy on rent.
“The deeds of the FDB boss in renting a house at such an outrageous price in a location like the Kanda Highway and further going into negotiations to increase the rent of FDB offices in Accra to nearly 100 percent without recourse to proper procedures flouted the general laid down regulations of a quasi-governmental organisation like FDB. It is highly ridiculous that a huge amount is spent on rent for a CEO just for his comfort.”
PNF further stated that the CEO’s wastefulness is premised on the fact that the current governing board of the organisation has been rendered non-functional as a result of the interdiction of some of its members.
The petition, dated March 9, 2010 and signed by Richard Kwesi Nyamah, spokesperson for PNF, expressed suspicion: “We have cause to believe that since our petition to CHRAJ on the above subject matter, there have been attempts by the CEO of FDB to doctor the evidence by backdating them to make right the wrongs committed.”
“We pray you to impress upon Dr Opuni to resign from his office to enable investigations to go on without undue pressure from his person and or his office. If he fails to resign, he should be dismissed.”
PNF additionally appealed to government to carry out its own investigations into the allegations, independent of the CHRAJ investigations and also dissolve the current board as well as reconstitute it per the constitution to enable FDB function properly.
“Last but not the least, that the discretionary powers of heads of government organisations, agencies and boards should be reviewed, especially with regards to expending powers of CEOs. Most heads of state agencies are spending more than GH¢5,000 without recourse to their boards as per the Financial Administrations Act.”
It additionally indicated that Dr Opuni’s wastefulness “is a cause for concern as it makes room for abuse of office, conflict of interest, corruption and underhand dealings at the expense of the state.”
In an earlier letter to CHRAJ on the same subject matter, PNF emphasised “It is worthy of note that under the Rents Act, a government institution particularly does not need to pay up for rent covering more than three (3) months on tenancy. In the case of the FDB, they paid two years rent advance.”
It concluded that such a habit constituted a gross misapplication of official authority to squander the poor taxpayer’s money. “Such a thing taking place without recourse to the governing board of FDB smacks of irregularities and raises many questions of under dealings and misappropriation of government funds.”