REVEALED: How an NDC appointee used ₵28,000 of public funds for his sister's funeral

Former Executive Secretary of the collapsed Health Training Institutions Secretariat which was under the supervision of the Ministry of Health during the erstwhile NDC administration has been sighted for misappropriation of public funds.

According to the Auditor General's report on Public Accounts of Ghana MDAs for the financial year ended December 31, 2017, Christopher Beyere withdrew GH₵28,000 of Tax Payers money for his personal use.

A 2017 Auditor-Generals report on the Ministry of Health has revealed that  Christopher Beyere on April 13, 2016, authorised and paid himself an amount of GH₵28,000 from the internally generated fund Account of the Health Training Institutions Secretariat.

This then runs contrary to the Finacial Administration Regulation(FAR),"Regulation 39 of the FAR 2004 requires a Head of department to ensure that money are utilized in a manner that secures both optimum value for money and the intention of Parliament."

Contrary to the above regulation, we noted during our review of payment voucher number PV-16-035 that, Mr Christopher Beyere, the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat, on 13 April 2016 authorised and paid himself an amount of GH¢28,000.00 from the IGF Account towards his sister’s funeral, The report revealed.

 The Health Training Institutions Secretariat was commissioned by the then Minister of Health under the NDC government, Alex Segbefia in November 2015, to act as a regulatory body for all 85 public and private health institutions supervising student intake into all such schools and the tuition fees they charged.

Meanwhile, the Health Training Institutions Secretariat was dissolved when the New Patriotic Party assumed the reigns of power.

Addressing a town hall meeting on Easter Monday, April 17 to mark 100 days of the Akufo-Addo government, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia described the secretariat as “419”, a depiction that the institution was a scam.

“We have dissolved the Health Training Institutions [Secretariat]. It was mainly, practically a 419 institute which was engaged in collecting monies from prospective applicants, but we have dissolved it and in addition, we have reduced the cost of nurse training admission forms from GHS160 to GHS100 and this will cover all the processes leading to admission.”

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