Education director blows GH¢ 100,000 teachers’ cash

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has interdicted the Offinso North District Director of Education in connection with investigations by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) into possible corrupt practices.

Francis Akumbuno Abiro is under investigation for taking “unearned salaries” of some newly recruited teachers posted to the district amounting to over GH¢100,000 and engaging in “other malpractices.”

Last Friday, the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Safo Kantanka took over the Offinso North District Education Directorate from Mr. Akumbuno Abiro who was made to hand over officially pending the final determination of EOCO inquiries.

EOCO is also looking into whether Mr. Akumbuno Abiro diverted books meant for the schools in the district to his private school at Tuabodom near Techiman in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

It has emerged that he and the District Accountant, Peter Alhassan Sulemana, in a scheme, duped the nation of over GH¢100,000 after bloating staff list with ghost names and again perverted salaries of more than 100 teachers.

He was said to have denied newly recruited teachers their first salaries and pocketed them, under the pretext of paying back into government’s chest, from 2011 to 2013, for not attending classes.

According to information available to DAILY GUIDE, the Education Director, as part of the scheme, requested the affected teachers to abandon their classrooms till they were regularized and paid by the Controller and Accountant General.

He then issued them introductory letters to enable them to collect their salaries, only to tell them to hand over their earnings to him for onward transfer into government’s chest for no work done, but ended up pocketing the money in connivance with the accountant and others.

The Accountant, Mr Sulemana has since been made to refund GH¢30,000 of his share of the money appropriated, following his arrest on July 30, 2013 and subsequent investigations.

Also in for probe was the Budget Officer of the District Education Directorate, Francis Adaku, who was believed to be part of the grand scheme. He was arrested last Thursday by officials of EOCO to assist in the ongoing investigations.

No Comment

Mr. Akumbuno Abiro and Mr Sulemana, the District Director of Education and Accountant respectively, would not comment on the allegations when they were contacted.

They told DAILY GUIDE that the investigative body had ordered them not to make any comment until the final determination of their cases, directing the paper’s queries to EOCO.

However, information available to the paper indicated that Mr. Akumbuno Abiro was still using his official vehicle as Offinso North District Director of Education despite his interdiction.

Before his official handing over, the director reportedly went to the Akomadan branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank to withdraw another GH¢4,900.