BY LEO NELSON
The Ghana Education Service (GES) is reeling from a bombshell exposé by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), revealing a deeply entrenched and mind-boggling corruption scheme that has bled public coffers dry.
Fake schools and phantom appointments have been unearthed, painting a grim picture of systemic rot at the very heart of Ghana’s education system.
Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng minced no words Tuesday, describing the preliminary findings as “alarming and symptomatic of systemic rot.”
The elaborate racket, orchestrated by senior GES officials, district directors, and external collaborators, has been siphoning public funds through ghost institutions and non-existent personnel across the nation.
The OSP’s probe uncovered a shocking truth: numerous schools officially listed in GES records are pure fiction.
These “schools” existed only on paper, yet incredibly, they received full government funding, including allocations for salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff.
In a truly audacious move, some of these ghost institutions even had “headteachers” and staff drawing monthly salaries without ever setting foot in a physical school
“Funds meant for education delivery were being diverted into private pockets under the guise of supporting schools that simply do not exist,” the OSP report declared, laying bare the audacious deception.
But the rot doesn’t stop there. The investigation also unearthed widespread irregularities in staff recruitment and promotions.
Individuals were appointed as teachers or administrative officers without undergoing the most basic verification.
Disturbingly, some appointments were allegedly sold to desperate applicants for princely sums ranging from GHS 5,000 to GHS 20,000.
“These ghost workers were inserted into the payroll with forged documentation, with some officials deliberately manipulating HR databases to facilitate the fraud,” a senior OSP investigator revealed, highlighting the brazen manipulation of official systems.
The corruption, though “widespread,” was particularly rampant in the Ashanti, Eastern, and Northern regions. The OSP has wasted no time, initiating a wave of arrests that include a former GES regional director, several district education officers, and personnel from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department. Bank accounts have been frozen, and a number of suspects are currently assisting with ongoing investigations.
These shocking revelations have ignited a firestorm of public outrage, with civil society groups like the Ghana Anti-corruption Coalition and education unions demanding a full audit of the GES and swift accountability for all implicated.
In a late Tuesday statement, the Ministry of Education pledged “full cooperation” with the OSP, promising decisive administrative action to restore integrity within the GES.
Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Education, minced no words: “This is not just a case of corruption; it’s an assault on the future of Ghana’s children. We will leave no stone unturned to root out these criminal elements.”
The OSP is expected to release a full list of implicated schools and individuals in the coming weeks. Efforts are already underway to recover stolen funds and overhaul internal GES auditing and verification systems to prevent such a scandal from ever recurring.
This scandal serves as a stark reminder of the persistent battle against corruption in public institutions and puts further pressure on the government’s anti-corruption agenda.