The Member of Parliament for the South Dayi Constituency, Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has revealed that the NDC caucus in Parliament had plans to invite the Minister of State at the Office of President to Parliament for questioning as the party had found some discrepancies in the operations of the Scholarship Secretariat.
He disclosed that the NDC had information that the Registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang, makes luxurious international travels weekly, “he usually travels first class”.
He added that the NDC also found that some beneficiaries of the scholarships who were paid more stipends than they had applied for, were instructed to pay the difference on their stipends to a syndicate mostly not affiliated to the Scholarship Secretariat.
“I have been on this man [the Registrar] for some time. My information is that he had worked in the Insurance Industry and he misconducted himself professionally so the National Insurance Commission…barred him from operating within the Insurance Industry. We went on recess… We were hoping to get the Minister of State to come and answer questions and the documentary [Scholarship Bonanza] was released”.
Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor
Furthermore, he indicated that his main concern with the Scholarship Secretariat is the entity’s inequitable distribution of public funds. He however noted his delight with how the GETFund Scholarships are distributed, asserting that there is equity and transparency in the criteria used to determine potential beneficiaries.
Regarding the argument that, GETFund was usurping the role of the Scholarship Secretariat by giving out scholarships, the MP defended that the GETFund’s law permits the entity to grant scholarships as there is no substantive enactment of Parliament governing the activities of the Scholarship Secretariat that ensures the Secretariat’s accountability to Parliament.
He clarified that, unlike the GETFund whose operations are transparent, the Scholarship Secretariat’s operations are not, indicating that the Secretariat does not account to Parliament because it is positioned under government agencies under the Office of the President.
Registrar To Be Interdicted
Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor further suggested that Dr. Kingsley Agyemang should be interdicted from his office so as the Auditor General can conduct a special audit into his activities between his assumption of Office and until present date.
“You see when people conduct themselves like this in public office and there is no consequence, they consider themselves to be in a comfort zone and will perpetuate the act. Look, Dr. Agyemang cannot say that there is no law governing his conduct in public office. You are a Public Officer, you are enjoined by the LI 2378 (2019)… to apply certain transparent guidelines”.
Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor
Moreover, the Member of Parliament indicated that, though there is no specific law covering the Scholarship Secretariat, in so far as Parliament approves its funds, the Secretariat is charged under the Public Financial Management Act to apply the funds judiciously and account for them.
However, the Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Haruna Mohammed, argued that relatives of politicians are Ghanaians, stressing that being a relative of a politician should not be used as a criterion to deny people scholarships they are otherwise qualified for.
He noted that the criteria set by the Scholarship Secretariat has no law that clearly indicates who a needy person is, arguing that the fact that a person has a political office or is related to a person in a political office does not exclude them from the needy bracket.
“If he is operating a hospital, at the time he is applying do you know whether he is needy or not needy, there is no adequate evaluation of a needy person”. – Haruna Mohammed
He argued that the argument that influential people and politicians are given preference in scholarship distribution is false, indicating that he had applied for a scholarship at the Scholarship Secretariat and was not granted despite his strong affiliation with the NPP.
Conclusively, the NPP Deputy General Secretary indicated that should any illegalities be found in the operations of the Scholarship Secretariat, the law must be applied to them judiciously.
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