You’ll refund GETfund monies with interest – Ras Mubarak to Napo, et al

A member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Ras Mubarak says persons culpable of breaching the GETFund Act following the illegal funding of foreign scholarships will be hauled before the committee in the coming days.

“Those who received the fund illegally do they not know what the law says? These are monies from the taxpayers. What they have done is in clear breach of the GETFund Act. They as government appointees have breached the Act,” he told sit-in host Akwasi Nsiah on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM.

This comes after some government appointees were listed in an audit report of the GETfund scholarship secretariat as having enjoyed the scholarship which is meant for the needy.

A performance audit report from the Auditor-General sighted by Kasapafmonline.com said the GETFund Secretariat favoured privileged politicians in administering the fund to the disadvantage of the brilliant but needy students.

It added that the Secretariat “breached the object of the fund and administered the scholarship themselves.”

According to the audit report, the Dome MP and Minister for Procurement Adwoa Safo applied and obtained $12,800 in allowances with $17,004 in tuition fees to study at the Harvard Kennedy school.

The Executive Secretary of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Prince Hamidu Armah also received £38,400 for living expense in addition to £33,000 for tuition fees, While Education minister Mathew Opoku Prempeh, who listed at number 38, is receiving $12,800 for living expenses and $11,200 as tuition fees at security course at Harvard University.

However, the ministry of Education has debunked the reports insisting its false.

“The Ministry would want to state that, the publication is not only false but vexatious.

We are by this notice stating categorically that, under no circumstances has the Minister of Education, received any sponsorship for scholarship from GETFUND since assuming office.

We urge the general public to disregard the said publication and treat it with the contempt it deserves”.

Meanwhile, Kumbungu MP Ras Mubarak who has challenged his colleague legislator over the claims replied to the denial saying: “A big fat lie from the Minister of Education on his denial that he’s never received scholarship since he assumed office as minister, and I challenge him. He was sponsored by the National Service Secretariat for a program at MIT Uni in Boston in his capacity as Minister for Education.

“He and some NSS staff spent $300.000 usd or 1.3million cedis then, of tax payers money for a one week program in the US. I know this for a fact because I had exposed him on the floor of Parliament. On this GetFund issue, It ain’t right for him, as sitting opposition MP then, to receive scholarship meant for brilliant but needy students. The face saving attempt at distancing himself from this disgraceful conduct of a greedy privileged few, who have no mercy on needy students is pathetic”.

He contended that per the auditor General’s report those beneficiaries didn’t deserve it and hence the monies dispensed to them were given to them in violation of the law.

“Some of them will even have to refund the monies with interest at available prevailing market rate. The situation now in terms of the handling of our public funds is worrying.” he told Kasapa FM.