Ghana: GETFund Caught Pants Down!

 Tongues are wagging at the very top of the management of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the Economic and Organised Crime Office about the circumstances under which an official of EOCO assigned to investigate procurement irregularities at the GETFund Secretariat succeeded in securing funding from the Fund to pay for his private law studies at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

The Chronicle can report authoritatively that Mr. Gideon Delali Deklu, described in official correspondents as a deputy staff officer at EOCO, was assigned by his bosses to investigate a dodgy GETFund procurement of science equipment for senior high schools, ended up securing GH¢15, 896,000 to pursue a three year Bachelor of Law studies at the prestigious institution at Greenhill, near Legon.

A payment voucher from GETFund, photo-copy of which is displayed on page 2 of this paper, states that the GH¢15,895. 54 is "funds released to assist Gideon Delali Deklu to pursue 3-year program in Bachelor of Laws (LLB) for the year 2011/2012, as per the attached."

The voucher was prepared, checked and passed for payment on September 27, 2011. It received Internal Audit approval on September 29, 2011.

In a letter captioned: APPLICATION FOR SPONSORSIP: BACHELOR OF LAWS DEGREE (LLB) addressed to the Administrator of GETFund, dated June 6, 2011, Mr. Gideon Delali Deklu stated thus: "I am a Deputy Staff Officer with the Economic and Organised Crime Office (Intelligence Division) and stationed in Accra.

"I have been offered admission to pursue a three year program in Bachelor of Laws Degree for 2011/2012 academic year, and wish to humbly apply for scholarship to enable me enroll on the program. Please find attached a copy of the admission letter."

The letter states: "Cost of tuition and examination fees for the entire program is US$9,000. In addition, participants are required to pay a development levy of One Thousand US Dollars (US$1,000), and a technology and library fee of Four Hundred and Fifty US Dollars ($450). The total cost of the program is Ten Thousand, Four Hundred and Fifty US Dollars and Fifty US Dollars (US$10,450.00)"

Although the Chief Executive Officer of EOCO, Mr. Kwaku Akpadzi Mortey, declined to give details of the nature of the investigation his outfit conducted into the GETFund, he told The Chronicle that EOCO did some work at GETFund.