Dagbanja's rejoinder to A-G going after lecturers who ‘bolted’ after state funded education

One of the lecturers from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), named in the 2019 Auditor General’s Report as having vacated their positions after receiving state sponsorship to further their education has reacted to the report and said he has already initiated repayment under the terms of his sponsorship.

Dominic Npoanlari Dagbanja, in a rejoinder to the publication of the report by Graphic Online confirmed that he was a member of staff of GIMPA and was sponsored by the Institute to study in Australia and per the rules, he was expected to return to the university after completion of his course but after completing the programme, he had not returned to the school as of August 2018.

However, he explained that he has since repaid a total of GH¢223,260.41, leaving a balance of GH¢104,539.83 which he was "saving to pay in due course".

"The terms of the contract for study leave with pay required me to return to GIMPA upon completion or to pay the amount spent on me if I did not return to post," he stated in the rejoinder.

"As my return to post delayed, I wrote to GIMPA about the option of repayment. I have since paid GH¢223,260.41, leaving a balance of GH¢104,539.83 which I have been saving to pay in due course."

"My dealings with GIMPA all this while has been one of reciprocal candour, honesty and good faith. The claim then that public money was spent on me to study and I failed to repay is completely false because it cannot be supported by the record of my interactions and dealings with GIMPA," he added.

What the 2019 Auditor-General’s report said

The 2019 Auditor General’s Report revealed that some lecturers of public universities in Ghana have vacated their positions after receiving sponsorship to further their education.

According to the report, such incidents are among numerous financial irregularities that occurred in institutions including the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Sunyani Technical University, Ho Technical University, Cape Coast Technical University and the Tamale Technical University.

In the case of GIMPA for instance, the report said one Dominic Npoanlari Dagbanja, who was a member of staff, was sponsored by the Institute to study Law in Australia and per the rules, he was expected to return to the university after completion of his course but after completing the programme in 2016, he had not returned to the school as of August 2018.

The Auditor General said, by virtue of his failure to return to the school after the course as expected, he must be made to refund the GH¢327,800 spent on him by the school.

“The GH¢327,800.24 spent on Mr. Dominic Npoanlari Dagbanja should be recovered from him or his guarantors in the event that the Institute cannot recover it from him; also, members of staff who have completed their courses of study must report to the Institute to serve their bond period or pay the amount expended on them with interest,” the report said.

The report also indicated that six staff of the Cape Coast Technical University who were granted study leave with pay between 2018 and 2019 failed to sign bonds, while 12 out of 1115 officers of the Ho Technical University who were also granted study leave with pay to further studies failed to complete the required bond forms.

Dominic Npoanlari Dagbanja's Rejoinder

RE: AUDITOR GENERAL GOES AFTER LECTURERS WHO ‘BOLTED’ AFTER STATE FUNDED THEIR EDUCATION – REJOINDER

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Graphic Online

DR DOMINIC DAGBANJA

npoanlari@yahoo.com

I write to refute the media publication to the effect that I “bolted” and failed to pay or to take steps to pay Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration’s (GIMPA) after being on study leave with pay to study for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Law outside Ghana.

The publication, which appeared on the website of Graphic Online on 30 March 2021, is false and without merit.

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The core message of the publication is that certain Ghanaian university lecturers received public funding to undertake PhD research outside Ghana and upon completion of their studies they never returned to their posts and never paid back the money.

I am the only person specifically named among the staff of GIMPA to have gone on study leave with pay and that I did complete the said programme but never returned to post and never paid back the money.

It is true that I was on study leave with pay to undertake research leading to a PhD in Law in New Zealand and that I have not returned to my post since completion of the PhD.

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However, at the material times since completion, I have been in touch with GIMPA. The terms of the contract for study leave with pay required me to return to GIMPA upon completion or to pay the amount spent on me if I did not return to post.

As my return to post delayed, I wrote to GIMPA about the option of repayment. I have since paid Gh₵223,260.41, leaving a balance of Gh₵104,539.83 which I have been saving to pay in due course. My dealings with GIMPA all this while has been one of reciprocal candour, honesty and good faith.

The claim then that public money was spent on me to study and I failed to repay is completely false because it cannot be supported by the record of my interactions and dealings with GIMPA.

The media publication appeared to have relied on the Report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts of Ghana: Public Boards, Corporations and Other Statutory Institutions for the Period Ended, 31 December 2019 (Ghana Audit Service, 2020), dated 22 October 2020. In March 2019, I had already written to GIMPA to repay.

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Thus, the facts about my exercise of the option to repay and payments I actually made were available and accessible from me or GIMPA in 2019 and 2020 when the 2019 audit report was prepared and in March 2021 when the media began to circulate the content of the said audit report.

The one-sided and unfair report and publication would have been avoided if the Auditor-General had these facts about my interactions with GIMPA and the repayment made.

These report and publication have damaged my name and reputation in the minds and estimation of not only the Ghanaian community, but the global community at large given the global accessibility of the fora through which the report and media publication have been circulated.

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I have had people in Australia, Ghana, New Zealand and United States contact me drawing my attention to this publication. That these report and publication about bolting or running away and not paying have stained my name and reputation is reflected in comments made by some of the readers.

I hope Graphic Online would retract its publication and apologise.