Seven arrested for embezzling teachers’ salaries
Seven persons, including six officials of the Afigya Kwabre District Office of the Ghana Education Service (GES), have been cited for allegedly siphoning GH¢394,297.38 from an account meant for newly recruited teachers.
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According to the report of an investigation conducted by the Ashanti Regional Directorate of the GES, the suspects backdated the appointment letters of newly recruited teachers, took the money and shared it among themselves.
The other suspect is an official of the Sekyere Rural Bank at Afrancho, the report, a copy of which is the possession of the Daily Graphic, said.
The investigations were instituted following complaints lodged by some of the teachers in the district in respect of the payment of their salaries.
According to the report, following the investigations, which were conducted by a nine-member Ashanti Regional Disciplinary Committee of the GES, a special taskforce was set up to monitor and track the activities of the officials until they were finally exposed.
Culprits
The report named the suspects as the Afigya Kwabre District Director of Education, Mr Ignatius Nwinde-Ere Der; a human resource officer, Mrs Philomina Atta-Mensah; the accounts officer, Mr Kingsley Ampofo; the Human Resource Management Officer, Martin Tietaah Kpanne; the Integrated Personnel Payrol Database (IPPD) Co-ordinator, Mr Richard Osei-Wusu; the training officer, Ms Esi Sakyi Appiah, and the Operations Manager of the Sekyere Rural Bank, Mr John Maxwell Adu.
According to the report, a copy of which has been dispatched to the acting Director-General of the GES, Mr Jacob Akor, the seven had admitted to the crime at a district fact-finding committee.
Directives
The report, which has been copied to the minister of education and relevant bodies in the educational sector, advised, among other things, that Mr Der be demoted.
Additionally, his salary and all allowances must be frozen until he made good the outstanding embezzled amount of GH¢117,148.69.
The report said he had already refunded GH¢80,000.
It directed that the ARB Apex Bank and the Bank of Ghana must be notified about the conduct of Mr Adu, who connived with the GES officials to siphon the money meant for teachers.