PAC orders recovery of GH¢54,665 from ex-civil servant after sponsored PhD in Austrailia

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has directed the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to urgently recover GH¢54,665 from a former staff member, Dr. Kennedy Osei, who resigned from the Civil Service just eight months after returning from a government-sponsored PhD programme in Australia.

Officials of the ministry, led by sector Minister Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey and Chief Director Dr. Afisah Zakariah, were grilled in Accra yesterday over findings in the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report, which flagged irregularities in the recovery of public funds paid to Dr. Osei during his study leave.

Background

Dr. Osei, then an Assistant Director, was granted a two-year paid study leave in 2017 to pursue a PhD at Queensland University in Australia. His programme was additionally sponsored by the GETFund, which provided AU$125,000 and US$49,400 in allowances.

After obtaining multiple extensions of leave without pay, Dr. Osei finally returned to Ghana in September 2022. However, he resigned from the Civil Service in August 2023, serving only eight months of a mandatory four-year bond.

The Auditor-General’s Report revealed that Dr. Osei continued to draw salaries during periods when he was not entitled to them, amounting to unearned payments of GH¢54,664.91.

Conflicting Accounts

The ministry, however, told the PAC that after reconciling figures with the GETFund, the Office of the Head of Civil Service had reduced the recoverable amount to GH¢19,325.51. Out of this, Dr. Osei had reportedly repaid GH¢3,000.

But the auditors rejected this claim, insisting there was no evidence of such repayment and maintaining that the original figure of GH¢54,000 remained valid.

The contradictions provoked sharp reactions from committee members.

Committee’s Position

Chairperson of the PAC, Abena Osei-Asare, admonished government institutions to adopt stricter measures in protecting public funds. She stressed that it was unacceptable for ministries to rely only on internal memos or letters as proof of recovery in audit queries.

The Ranking Member of the Committee, Samuel Atta-Mills, the NDC MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem, was blunt in his criticism. He described the case as clear “fraud,” arguing that Dr. Osei’s actions had caused financial loss to the state.

He insisted that not only Dr. Osei but also his guarantors must be held accountable for breaching the terms of the bond.

Ministry’s Assurances

In response, Dr. Lartey assured the PAC that her ministry would intensify efforts to recover the money and work with the Civil Service and GETFund to resolve the discrepancies.