PAC chairman proposes bank guarantorship to curb gov’t investment losses in public sector workers
The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), James Klutse Avedzi has asked government to review the guarantor system used to support workers to pursue higher education.
According to him, it is time for government to insist for bank guarantors -where applicants are required to present guarantees from the banks to safeguard government’s investment in beneficiaries.
Government over the years has been sponsoring public sector workers to pursue higher education abroad with various sums of money. Most of these beneficiaries at the end of their service fail or never return to the country where their services are needed, and additionally default in the repayment of the investment made in them.
Mr. Klutse Avedzi made this known on Wednesday at PAC sitting when the Ministry of Health and their various agencies appeared before the Committee to respond to a number of infractions cited in the Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana, Ministries, Departments and Other Agencies (MDAs) for the year ended 31st December, 2020.
According to the report of the Auditor-General the former workers of Korle-bu Teaching Hospital have failed to honour their bonds or refund an amount to the tune of Gh 98,546.00 which was spent on their studies abroad.
Speaking with journalists after the PAC on the matter, he said “We think that the best way to do that so that people can continue to benefit is to ensure that before you benefit from this facility, provide a bank guarantee -you go to your bankers, tell them that government is sponsoring me for this course and I want a guarantee to prove to government that I am coming back, you are my banker and my salary comes here all the time, the bank will have to do studies to ensure that definitely you will come back and if you don’t come back the bank must have a way of ensuring that the money is retrieved from you, so that government will easily fall on these banks if the people fail to return.”
He added that, it remains the way forward if the status quo is to be changed, to ensure that government does not continue to lose money.
Members of the Committee asked questions relating to the queries cited in the Auditor-General’s Report and officials from the Ministry of Health and agencies including NTC-Pantang, Ghana Institute of Clinical Genetics, Nurses Training College Damongo among others.
When the Minister of Health, Hon. Kweku Agyeman Manu, Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Chief Director and Senior Officers of the Health Service appeared before the Committee, the Chairman ordered for the arrest of two guarantors of two former staff of Korle-bu Teaching Hospital for failing to fulfil bonds after being sponsored to pursue their higher education.
