GYEEDA Director challenges MP over ghost names
The Eastern Regional Director of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneur Development Agency (GYEEDA), Mr Joshua Attah-Mensah has challenged the Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juaben South, Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, to substantiate his allegation that the over-spending of the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Youth and Sports for 2012 was as a result of payment of salaries to ghost names under the National Youth Employment Program (NYEP).
Mr Attah-Mensah challenged the MP to mention one single ghost name in his constituency that he knew to be on the pay roll of the Agency.
He was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Koforidua on Thursday in reaction to the interview granted by Dr Assibey-Yeboah to Joy News correspondent in Parliament in which he alleged that the excess expenditure of the Ministry of Youth and Sports for last year was used to pay ghost workers’ salaries.
Mr Attah-Mensah explained that due to the lack of appropriate software, it took some days for names of people who exited from the GYEEDA programme to be taken off the pay roll.
He explained that in the process an embargo would be placed on the salaries and allowances and the amount involved paid back to government chest.
Mr Attah-Mensah said salaries of beneficiaries to the scheme which were in arrears since 2011 were paid in tranches in 2012.
He said in the Eastern Region alone, in November last year, GH¢2,000,000.00 was paid to 3,347 beneficiaries as their four months salary arrears.
Mr Attah-Mensah said two other arrears were paid in December last year and in January this year, adding that currently the scheme owed the beneficiaries arrears for January and February for this year.
He said last year, the Eastern Region alone returned to chest GH¢140,000 being claims of people who had left the scheme.
Mr Attah-Mensah said this year, the Odumase-Krobo branch of the Manya-Krobo Rural Bank paid back to chest GH¢55,000.
He said one Catherine Frimpong from Jumapo in the New Juaben Municipality who had left the scheme but managed to withdraw GH¢1,000 from her account which was supposed to be paid back to chest had been arrested.
Source: GNA