Why Auditor-General audited GETFund and said many scholarship beneficiaries were not needy
The Auditor-General, Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo has undertaken a performance audit of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) between 2012 and 2018 and concluded that many scholarship beneficiaries within the period were not needy.
The Auditor-General has since sent the report which contains the names of 86 beneficiaries some of whom are politicians, parliamentarians, public servants, media practitioners, lecturers, heads of public institutions and many others to Parliament.
According to the Auditor-General, the 86 beneficiaries published in the report are not needy people who should have benefitted from the GETFund scholarship which amounts to over GH¢1.8 million over the period.
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The transmittal letter from the Auditor General to Parliament which has the report attached and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament reads: "I have the honour to submit to you a performance audit report on the administration of Scholarships by GETFund Secretariat in accordance with my mandate under Article 187(2) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, Sections 13(e) and 16 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584) which provide that I may carry out performance and special audits."
It adds: "The purpose of the audit was to ascertain whether GETFund acted in accordance with its mandate as stated in the GETFund Act, 2000 (Act 581) with regards to administration of funds for scholarships. The audit covered the period 2012 to 2018."
"We found that in 2009, GETFund Secretariat curtailed scholarship funding to the Scholarship Secretariat contrary to Section 2(2b) of the GETFund Act, 2000 (Act 581) and rather purportedly administered scholarships under Section 2(2e) of the Act," the letter stated.
"In granting scholarships, GETFund Secretariat did not institute a robust selection process from 2012 to 2017 leading to haphazard granting of scholarships to Ghanaians to the detriment of those who really needed it."
"GETFund Secretariat did not also follow the requirements of the Financial Administration Act, 2003, (Act 654) to establish systems, policies and procedures to ensure the efficient and effective use of public funds," it added
"In so doing, GETFund Secretariat did not efficiently expend GH¢1.8 million of public funds from 2012 to 2018."
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"We made some recommendations to help GETFund Secretariat improve upon its handling of Scholarship funds. I trust that this report will meet the expectations of Parliament," the transmittal letter from the Auditor General to Parliament stated.