Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament Dr. Clement Apaak
The Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament Dr. Clement Apaak, is demanding answers as to why the government spent GH¢68,513,455.75 to buy 1,035,733 exam questions through sole sourcing.
He also wants to know why the government awarded the contract to the same company two years in a row and agreed to pay for the same exam questions at GH¢78 per unit when it paid GH¢58 per unit only a year ago.
The legislator said it is outrageous that the same past questions about a year ago, got increased by a whopping 32% increase, which begs the question.
The government has admitted that to help final year students prepare for the 2021 West African Senior High School Certificate Examination, the Ministry of Education purchased 446,954 past questions from Messers Kingdom Books and Stationery at a unit price of Gh¢78.
It added that the government procured 568,755 past questions for students to try their hands on before sitting for the final exams.
Kingdom Books was contracted to supply the past questions at a contract price of GH¢33641,043.75.
Reacting to this, Dr. Apaak says the deal is stinky and must be probed.
Read his full statement below
Government Spends 68,513,455.75ghc To Buy Past WASSCE Questions In 2 Years From Same Sole Sourced Supplier
Based on two questions posed I posed to the Minister for Education on July 14, 2021:
1) To ask the Minister for Education if Government will procure and distribute past exam questions to final year students preparing to write WASSCE this year, 2021, and how this will be funded;
2) To ask the Minister for Education how much it cost the state to procure 568,755 past exam questions for students who wrote WASSCE in 2020 and the source of funds for the procurement. The written answers of the Minister, which he made in Parliament revealed the following.
Government in 2020 and 2021 spent 68,513,455 ghc from the Free Senior High School Account to procure 1,035,733 units of past exam questions for 2020 and 2021.
For this year, 2021, Government has already spent 34,862,412ghc on 446,958 past questions at a unit price of 78ghc from Messers Kingdom Books and Stationery via sole sourcing.
In 2020, Government spent 33,644,043ghc to procure 568,755 past exam questions via sole sourcing from the same Kingdom Books and Stationery at a unit price of 59ghc.
Why Government will spend 68,513,455.75ghc to buy 1,035,733 exam questions through sole source from the same company two years in a row, and agree to pay for the same exam questions at 78ghc per unit, when it paid 59ghc per unit only a year ago, a whopping 32% increase, begs the question.
Interestingly the price of textbooks used by Senior High School students have not increased over the period. So how can the past cost of past exam questions increase by 32% from the same supplier? I will share the content follow up questions and follow-ups with colleagues at a later date. Stay tuned.
Dr. Clement Apaak
M.P, Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member On Education Committee