GES to investigate 18 teachers using fake certifications to illegally withdraw Gh¢188k.
The Ghana Education Service has been directed by the Public Accounts Committee to conduct investigations into 18 teachers who promoted themselves to higher positions in Amansie Central District.
Speaking on the issue during the committee hearing on August 20, 2024, the District Director of Amansie Central, Vincent Ben Ameyaw, told the PAC that the teachers in question engaged in self-upgrading without passing through the office, resulting in receiving higher salaries and a financial loss of GH¢188,386.43 to the state.
“Mr. Chairman, we did not place them. They did self-upgrading without passing through the office, so it's a back-door affair,” he said.
He further explained that the GES only became aware of the self-upgrading when they noticed an abnormal increase in the salaries of the 18 teachers.
The Auditor-General’s investigations detected that the teachers lacked legal documentation for the ranks to which they had promoted themselves.
“It did not pass through GES. We only realized that their salaries had gone up more than normal, and that is why the auditors detected that the ranks that they are holding don’t have documents attached to them, so they should refund the monies paid to them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vincent Ben Ameyaw stated that out of the total amount paid to these teachers, they have recovered GH¢34,731.53 and are on course to retrieve the remaining debts.
“We’ve been able to collect GH¢34,731.53 and we are left with GH¢152,966.54 and we are on course collecting,” he added.
Reacting to the incident, the Chairman of the PAC, James Klutse Avedzi, said that to prevent the recurrence of such criminalities in other districts, an investigation must be conducted.
“If it is possible that their rank has not changed, yet their salary level has changed, then our IPPD system is not robust enough. This happened in Amansie Central, and we haven’t seen any other district where this thing happened.
“There is a need for further investigation, and it should be done by GES. First of all, this is criminal, and they can be prosecuted and punished, but we are saying the GES should go beyond and do a further investigation into how they did it so that we can find a way to stop it. If not, another district will pick it up and will also try to find out how to do it,” he recommended.
