The Minority in Parliament is alleging that the government is paying a GHC6.3 million monthly recurrent fee for government-free wifi services in our secondary, tertiary, colleges, and education offices, although the service has not been rendered.
Dr. Celement Apaak, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, is alleging that despite the rhetoric by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia that the current administration has put in place free wifi infrastructure in our secondary, tertiary, colleges, and other educational facilities, the infrastructure is non-existent.
Addressing journalists in parliament on Monday, November 27, 2023, he stated that the government fraudulently awarded the contract for the free wifi infrastructure for Ghc84 million.
He explained that over the past three years, he has consistently filed a question demanding how the contract was awarded, the company involved, and other details, but he has not been provided with these answers.
However, he has managed to lay his hands on the document through the efforts of a good Samaritan.
He further alleged that although secondary education and the free SHS policy have received the needed funding, the government has yet to remit even GHC1 to some of the cost areas, including ICT and students’ ID cards, among others.
He said CHASS has consistently complained of the failure of the government to allocate funds to cover these areas and went ahead to cite a recent Aftican Education Watch report, which revealed that over 70% of our schools where the government claimed to be benefiting from the free wifi were rather the opposite.
Dr. Apaak said his further checks indicate that the original Busy Internet we know was procured right before the contract was given to the company.
He added that the contract sum was inflated by 100%.
“So clearly, the rhetoric by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia that every public secondary school is benefiting from free wifi is dubious. The students are not benefiting. The colleges of education are not benefiting. The regional education offices are not benefiting from it.
The district education offices are not benefiting from it, and yet you and I are paying Ghc6.3 million a month for it, and the contract for the infrastructure is Ghc84 million. Who bought the original bus, and why is it that the new bus was given this contract at this rate per month, yet the beneficiaries are not benefiting from it?
Dr. Apaak revealed the minority is looking into this fraud and stealing and will soon make public the contract documents.
By: Rashid Obodai Provencal/Rainbowradioonline.com