The Akatsi South Municipal Assembly has suspended the Acting Director of Social Welfare, Felix Sagah, over the non-payment of allowances due to focal persons who assisted with the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.
The suspension follows a petition submitted by the affected focal persons, who are also Assembly Members, to the MCE over unpaid allowances amounting to GH¢34,100.
The allowances were meant for 341 focal persons who participated in the identification and re-enrolment of vulnerable persons under the LEAP programme in April 2026.
Municipal Chief Executive for Akatsi South, Daniel Dagba, disclosed that a committee has been constituted to investigate the matter.
“The Acting Social Welfare Director said he had the money on his E-Zwich card and was going to withdraw it in two weeks to pay them. April passed, May passed and we are now in June,” Mr. Dagba said.
He explained that following the petition by the Assembly Members, officials of the Assembly invited the Acting Social Welfare Director to respond to the allegations.
“He told us he had started paying the beneficiaries. So we quickly suspended him and asked him to step aside,” he stated.
According to him, the committee chaired by the Internal Auditor has been tasked with establishing whether the allowances were paid and verify any supporting documents.
“The committee will start work this week. It will invite the Assembly Members to provide evidence and determine whether the focal persons were actually paid,” he said.
He added that if the committee is unable to verify the payments, appropriate steps would be taken to ensure the affected focal persons receive their allowances.
“If the committee is not satisfied with the documents provided, it will ask him to pay the GH¢34,100 so the focal persons can be paid,” he added.
He further clarified that the management and disbursement of allowances to focal persons do not fall directly under the mandate of the Assembly but rather under the responsibility of the Social Welfare Director.
