GETFund brouhaha: Top NPP officials listed as beneficiaries
- Top NPP appointees have been named as beneficiaries of GETFund scholarships
- An audit report has revealed massive infractions at the GETFund Secretariat
- Meanwhile, some of the NPP officials who were named as beneficiaries have come out to deny the allegations
- Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in
A performance audit report from the Auditor-General on the activities of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) from 2012 to 2018 has revealed serious breaches and infractions.
According to the report sighted by YEN.com.gh, GETFund, instead of funding education of brilliant and needy students, paid huge sums of monies as scholarships for politicians and rich people.
The Auditor-General’s report noted that the administrators of GETFund deprived the needy students and rather favored politicians and the well-to-do.
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“GETFund did not establish any systems, policies and procedures to ensure the economic, efficient and effective use of public funds,” the report noted.
The report also said the GETFund Secretariat did not ensure the “scholarship expenditures stayed within scholarship budgets.”
The report stated that the Secretariat exceeded scholarship amounts by 300% from 2012 to 2014.
The Auditor-General’s report also revealed that top appointees of the New Patriotic Party government received scholarships to study abroad.
Some of the NPP appointees who are listed as beneficiaries are: Education Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, Procurement Minister and Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, etc.
The rest are lecturers, heads of institutions and some media practitioners who all benefited from the scheme meant for needy but brilliant students.
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Meanwhile, the GETFund Secretariat has come out to deny any wrongdoing, stating its mandate is not only limited to solely needy but brilliant students.
The Secretariat noted that they are also mandated by law to provide support for "other educational activities and programmes to serve strategic national interests.”
Also, the Education Minister, Dr Opoku-Prempeh who was listed to have received US$11,200 and US$12,800 as tuition and living allowance respectively has categorically denied the allegations.
YEN.com.gh earlier reported that President Akufo-Addo has stated that Ghana’s peace and prosperity are much more important than the ambitions of political figures.
According to Akufo-Addo, the upcoming 2020 elections would not interfere with the peace and stability Ghanaians have enjoyed since the country became a Republic.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
