The Ghana Audit Service has reacted to a recent statement made by the Tempane District Director of Education, Rashid Tee Anaffu, that he demanded moneys from some public schools in his district to pay hotel accommodation, fuel and lunch bills for some auditors delegated to examine the accounting records of those schools.
“We don’t charge; we are paid by the government. So, we don’t charge anything. Government pays us our allowances, fuel and everything. So, when we come to your place to audit, we don’t take a penny from you.
“So, if he (the district director) is demanding money from schools for auditors, he has to explain what he was going to do with the money, because we don’t charge.
“We don’t take money from clients once they are government institutions. We’ve warned our staff not to even take water from a client. I’m surprised. He should come clean,” the Upper East Regional Auditor, Samuel Amofa, said.
Recall that the district director made the statement about three days ago after some residents staged a demonstration in the district, calling for his immediate removal from office for alleged misconduct and poor leadership.
“Specific instance is the demand by the director for SPIPS (School Performance Improvement Plans) of GH¢200.00 from each of the forty-seven Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) schools amounting to GH¢9,400 for internal auditing purposes on 16 April, 2024.
“He failed to conduct examinations sponsored by GES headquarters in the 2022/2023 academic year termly. He extorted from parents an amount of Gh¢20.00 per student for other examinations organised and supervised by the directorate because of financial benefits but uses printing machines and materials in the office provided by government,” the demonstrators had said in a statement issued by the lead convener, Robert Awini, on Wednesday.
The exact words used by the district director
When contacted, the district director told newsmen he requested moneys from the GALOP schools to settle the fuel, accommodation and feeding bills of the auditors.
“When we got letters that auditors were coming to audit their books, they would want to go to every school. Not only GALOP schools, but every school. Now, other schools like JSS and those that are non-GALOP, none have the money. So, I called the GALOP school heads and told them that they should find a way to raise money so that we can take care of these auditors.
“Because they come with their cars, they would need fuel, they would need a place to sleep, they would need lunch. I called them and we agreed on the amount each school should contribute, depending on the quantum of money in your account. Some received more than Gh¢3,000.00,” he said.
Continuing, he said he asked schools that received more than Gh¢3,000.00 to give Gh¢200, those that received between Gh¢2,000.00 and Gh¢3,000.00 to contribute Gh¢150 and those who had between Gh¢1,000.00 and Gh¢1,500.00 to offer Gh¢50.
“We even agreed on the literature, how to phrase it. And I said when I invite you to my office for an official meeting, you are entitled to Gh¢50— Gh¢30 for your fuel, Gh¢20 for your lunch. This is an expenditure that we must meet. So, go back and write that the number of times I invited you to my office and you didn’t take lunch was four times so that you could raise Gh¢200 each.
“Keep the money; I won’t be around. When the auditors come, you would call the human resource manager and you would see how you can attend to them. I just [came] back from Ouagadougou when the human resource manager called that the first team of auditors had come; they had started working; they were seeking fuel of 30 gallons; one of them was staying in a guest house here; they needed daily ration of food,” the director said.
He added: “So, they spent from the sports money for them to do their work for one week. They have since presented their report. But I have asked them to synthesise the report on the errors that we would have committed on our SPIPs so that I would invite all the heads for the two auditors who went through their books to give them an orientation and point out the common errors that they’ve been committing”.
Click to watch the video of the district director’s confession here:
When Media Without Borders contacted him, the district director said all the allegations levelled against him by the demonstrators were unfounded. But he abruptly ended the telephone interview when asked if it was appropriate to demand moneys from the schools for auditors.
Meanwhile, the demonstrators have announced plans to stage another “protest” in the district next Wednesday if their demands are not met.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana.
