The Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr Clement Apaak, has filed a question in Parliament for a probe into the $1.2 million World Bank-funded Ghana Accelerated Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) COVID-19 Interventions.
Dr Apaak, who is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South, said the filing of the question was premised on a press statement released by IT firm, TANIT Limited on the contract.
“When Parliament returns from recess in October, one of the major tasks it would be called upon to execute in the spirit of public interest, is to probe the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, following the controversy arising from the implementation of the $1.2 million World Bank-funded GALOP COVID-19 Interventions,” he told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday[August 25, 2022].
Dr Apaak said the call for the parliamentary probe would be led by the Minority Group, especially, its members on the Committee on Education that first called on Dr Adutwum to avail himself for accountability on the World Bank-sponsored GALOP COVID-19 Interventions.
Many questions
He said there were a lot of questions surrounding the contract, which was to design, develop and deploy digital teacher training content and platform.
“Yes, we will press. I’ve filed a question on it from the TANIT Limited press statement. The company claims it was contracted to develop the platform but the ministry later abrogated the contract and allegedly cooked up data for the World Bank without training the teachers in digital technology for teaching,” the Ranking Member stated.
Tweet
On Wednesday, August 17, 2022, Dr Apaak in a tweet served notice that he would demand answers from Dr Adutwum and the ministry following media reports that due diligence was not done by those concerned.
TANIT Limited also insisted that the Education Minister and the ministry abrogated a contract they awarded to it after they had presented a ‘made-up’ report to the World Bank in order to access the US$1.2 million for the implementation of the GALOP COVID-19 Interventions.
“More revelations are coming up on the World Bank-funded GALOP Project. The response from TANIT Ltd to media reports also raises even more questions. I will certainly demand answers,” Dr Apaak stated.
Minister’s position
Dr Adutwum and the Ministry of Education had both denied presenting a fictitious report to the World Bank to access the US$1.2 million for the GALOP COVID-19 Interventions.
In the view of the minister, the World Bank had exonerated him from any wrongdoing, stressing that the $1.2 m was still intact in the ministry’s accounts.
The Ministry of Education had also informed the public in a separate statement that it was chasing TANIT Limited to refund GH¢859,115.46 after the IT company failed to deliver the World Bank project it contracted it to execute on July 26, 2021.
However, the Public Relations Officer for TANIT Limited, Isaac Agyemang, seems not convinced by the responses of the Education Minister.
He said it was only through a Cabinet and Parliamentary probe into the World Bank’s GALOP COVID-19 interventions that the truth surrounding the project would be established.
TANIT, he noted, was ever ready to submit itself to Cabinet and Parliamentary scrutiny.
Mr Agyemang also rebutted claims by the Ministry of Education that it reneged on the contract and, therefore, had to refund the GH¢859,115.46 to the ministry.
“There should be a parliamentary probe into this because we know that we have delivered on our mandate as a company and got paid,” he stated