Auditor-General’s Report 2021: Only 61 Out Of 360 Programmes Run By KNUST Are Accredited

• Kumasi-based Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is accused of running programmes that are not accredited
• The Auditor-General's report stated that the university was running 299 programmes that don't have National Accreditation Board approval
• The report said 109 of the courses had not been presented for accreditation at all, while 190 programmes had been sent to the NAB accreditation and reaccreditation

One of Ghana’s premier universities, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has been called out for running as many as 299 unaccredited programmes.

According to the 2021 Auditor-General’s report, of the 360 programmes run by the University, only 61 have been accredited. The report explained that auditors discovered that 190 programmes had been sent to National Accreditation Board (NAB) for accreditation and reaccreditation, while 109 were yet to be sent to the board for accreditation.

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“We recommended to Management to cease running programmes that are not accredited or having its accredited certificates expired until they are accredited or renewed, to avoid sanctions by NAB,” the state audit report warned.

The June 1, 2022 report addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, also found that four officers who the KNUST granted sabbatical leave took various appointments in other government institutions. At these institutions, they enjoyed a basic salary and other monthly allowances in full, in addition to basic and Market Premium being paid by the Kumasi-based University.

According to the report, this has resulted in double payment of basic salary and market premium by the government in the sum of GH¢488,868.69.

State auditors also found that out of GH¢291,771.61 released by the University for maintenance activities, transactions in the sum of GH¢263,596.42 were without relevant supporting documents.

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This includes the Vice Chancellor’s approval and letters of contract engagements, signed sheets, and proper VAT invoices to authenticate the payments.

“In the absence of the required supporting documents to prove the legitimacy of the expenditures, we recommended that the technical team at the Maintenance Department (Architect, Site Manager, Administrator, and others) should refund the amount of GH¢263,596.42 to the University,” the audit report recommended.

Auditor-General’s Report 2021: List of Judges Who Benefited From 19 Vehicles Auctioned Without Approval

In a separate story, YEN.com.gh reported that the 2021 Auditor-General’s report also cited past and current judges of the Superior Courts for benefitting from an unapproved auction of vehicles by the Judicial Service.

According to the report, the auction contravenes a law passed in 2019 to stop such auctions.

The law, known as “Regulation 158 of Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378)”, was established to check possible underhand dealings in the auction of state vehicles.

Source: YEN.com.gh