Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kennedy Osei Nyarko

'Unprofessional' Auditor-General should retract my name from GETFund scholarship beneficiaries - Kennedy Osei Nyarko

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Politics Feb - 25 - 2020 , 17:55

A Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kennedy Osei Nyarko, has given the Auditor-General (A-G) a 24-hour ultimatum to retract his name as part of some individuals who were allegedly awarded scholarships by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).

In a letter dated Tuesday, February 25, 2020 and signed by his lawyer, Mr Gary Nimako Marfo, the Deputy Minister is demanding an unqualified apology after accusing the A-G of acting “unprofessional”.

According to the letter, Mr Nyarko, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akyem Swedru in the Eastern Region, had never “received any money from GETFfund or benefitted from any scholarship to pursue further studies” in a university outside the country as indicated by the A-G in his findings.

“We are therefore instructed to notify you to retract the said publication about our client within 24 hours and to render a public unqualified apology for the public ridicule and dissatisfaction caused him as a consequence of your unprofessional conduct."

"Please be notified that if our client’s instructions are not carried out within the period indicated supra, we shall seek other legal avenues to vindicate his rights in court,” the letter stated.

The letter was addressed to the Auditor-General, Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo and copied to the Chairman of the Audit Service Board, Professor Edward Dua Agyeman.

Details

The letter indicated that the Auditor-General although added Mr Nyarko’s name as part of the list, he did not state the amount the MP benefitted from GETFund as compared to the other beneficiaries.

“We are therefore at loss as to the rationale, motive and or intention for including our client’s name on your supposed list of GETFund beneficiaries."

“From the foregoing, it stands to reason that your work was grossly unprofessional, bias, unethical, incompetent and was merely intended to cause public dissatisfaction to our client since the inclusion of his name on the list was made without basis,” the letter added.

List of beneficiaries

The Auditor-General’s findings between 2012 and 2018 have come up with a list of 88 scholarship beneficiaries, including Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh and Ms Adwoa Safo, both Members of Parliament at the time they benefitted and current prominent members of the government.

Also named on the list is Dr Prince Hamid Armah, currently the Executive Secretary of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA).

However, Dr Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Education, has described the findings as “a story, born out of mischief and lies, intended to cause disaffection”.

Dr Armah, also in a reaction, said the report was a “palpably false story that is driven purely by the worst political instincts”.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh