It has come to light that “at the end of 2022 financial year, the schools owed students, suppliers and service providers a total amount of GH¢ 8,731,145.57.”
A good portion of this amount is due to irregular payments made under the Free Senior High School programme.
This is according to the Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana: Colleges of Education and Pre-university Educational Institutions for the financial year ended 31 December 2022.
The report stated that “Out of the total of GH¢8,731,145.57 owed by the institutions at the end of the year, GH¢8,324,288.82 representing 95.34% was owed to suppliers of goods and services. This was mainly due to irregular release of funds by the Free Senior High School Secretariat to the schools under the Free SHS program[me]. Students’ creditors of GH¢406,856.75 recorded was attributed to advance receipts in 2022 from students of the Gbewaa College of Education for 2023 academic year.”
“We urged management of the institutions to endeavour to honour their obligations as and when they fall due to avoid any penalties and also to continue to enjoy the goodwill and confidence of their creditors,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, the total indebtedness of students, staff and other entities to the institutions for the 2022 financial year was GH¢4,060,228.18. The institutions include some of the 43 Pre University Educational Institutions, and seven Colleges in the Upper East Region.
The audit report added that “Out of the 50 institutions 44 submitted their annual accounts and financial statements for validation before the statutory deadline of 28 February 2022.”
In accordance with provisions of Articles 187(2) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the accounts and other related records of 875 Colleges of Education and Pre-University Educational Institutions for the financial year ended 31 December 2022 were audited by the Auditor General, Johnson Akuamoah Aseidu.
The audits were conducted in accordance with the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and best practice considering that the Public Financial Management System of Ghana is regulated by relevant legislative and administrative guidelines such as the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), as amended, the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584), and the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378).
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
