Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu Constituency in the Northern Region, Hon. Ras Mubarak, has stated that Ghanaians should ignore the Education Minister’s response to the report that states that the minister received a GETfund scholarship to study abroad.
Following an audit report that listed Hon.Matthew Opoku Prempeh amongst other government appointees who benefited from scholarships meant for the needy, the Education Minister in a statement debunked the reports, claiming that the report was intended to cause “embarrassment and public ridicule”.
“I have noted with dismay a news carried by some media, that suggests that I have as a Minister, received a scholarship from the Ghana Education Trust Fund for studies at Harvard.
This impression is false and calculated to cause embarrassment and public ridicule. I have not received any form of sponsorship for any program or course of study from getfund of scholarship secretariat since becoming a Minister.
However, I have been a recipient of getfund award in 2014 to participate in a 3-week certificate program at the Kennedy School of Govt, Harvard University.
I urge the public to disregard this story, borne out of mischief and lies, intended to cause disaffection. “
According to Ras Mubarak, the only way the Minister can defend himself is by going to a court of law. In an interview with Happy FM’s Kwame Afrifa Mensah on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show, he said: “The Ministry of Education’s response was hurriedly written without waiting for the facts. The Auditor-General should be replied to in a court of law. It’s disgraceful. Ghanaians should ignore the statement. The statement was unnecessary. The media was not the place to respond if he thinks the Auditor’s General indicting him is wrong”.
He commented that awarding the GETfund scholarships to these government appointees are crimes against the nation because as far as he was concerned, “MPs capacity building is funded by the Parliament” and as such “they should be made to cough the money up because it was an illegality in the first place”.
A performance audit report by the Auditor-General on the awarding of GETfund scholarships revealed that some government appointees were listed as beneficiaries of scholarships meant for needy but brilliant students.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
