The Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo has advised the Deputy Agriculture Minister, Mr Kennedy Nyarko Osei, to seek redress from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) if he is unhappy with the inclusion of his name on a list of high-profile scholarship beneficiaries recently released by the Audit Service.
The lawyers of Mr Osei gave the Auditor-General a 24-hour ultimatum to apologise to the Minister for including his name in the report which named some top government officials as beneficiaries of GETFund scholarships.
The letter accused Mr Domelevo of being unprofessional and malicious in his work.
Responding to the letter, the Auditor-General said: “It should be noted that the information contained in an audit report is from the audited entity, and in this instance, every information or name that is contained in the performance audit report on GETfund came from GETFund, the audited entity. Certainly, my office has no malice or bias toward any individual named as a beneficiary from GETFund in our audit report. Your grievance, therefore, is best addressed by GETFund, who provided the audit team with the necessary information and names of beneficiaries during the audit”.
Below are details of the statement from Mr Domelevo:
I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 25th February 2020. Please be informed that my office did not cause to be published any “supposed list of top political figures” who are claimed to have benefitted from scholarships at the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) as alleged by you.
My office, in consonance with article 187(2) of the 1992 Constitution and Sections 13(e) and 16 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584), undertook a special audit at the GETFund office spanning the period 2012 to 2018 and submitted a copy of the audit report to parliament as mandated by law. And, pursuant to section 23 of Act 584. a copy of the said report is published on our website.
It should be noted that the information contained in an audit report is from the audited entity, and in this instance, every information or name that is contained in the performance audit report on GETfund came from GETFund, the audited entity. Certainly, my office has no malice or bias toward any individual named as a beneficiary from GETFund in our audit report. Your grievance, therefore, is best addressed by GETFund who provided the audit team with the necessary information and names of beneficiaries during the audit.
