Lawyer Samson Lardy Anyenini has expressed deep concern for persons who could have otherwise been legitimate beneficiaries of the GETFund scholarships yet are defending the “unacceptable” acts of public officials implicated in the scandal.

According to him, because of the political colours the scandal has been clothed in, persons who are supposed to call for sanctions on implicated public officials are rather defending them.

He said, Ghanaians who have now been blinded by party colours are in actual sense supposed to be angry, ashamed and mad at officials in question.

“The saddest part of it is that, the poor, the needy who are members of these parties they are the ones running around defending thee indefensible and God is watching,” he said in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb.

The implicated officials, notably the Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh and Procurement Minister, Sarah Adwoa Sarfo as well as, son of NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, Executive Secretary of NaCCA, Dr Prince Armah – have raised some defences to counter the audit report.

The Procurement minister has said that the scholarship she was awarded was to enable her serve Ghana better, whereas the Education Minister said, he benefited in the capacity of a member of parliament and not a minister.

But Lawyer Anyenini arguing on the full basis of the law, said their arguments are unfounded.

“Let’s be a people of moral conscience and the fear of God stop what we’re doing…if you have to grant the scholarship to even teachers, what does the law say, the law says you have to do that through the National Council on Tertiary Education. You don’t sit in your home or in your office and dish it out…even the small room given by the law for others to be sponsored…the audit finds that there was no involvement of the Minister of Education and there was no consultation of the board.”

“…abusive and some people sit in this country and they can’t see the wrong, all they’re interested in is that one politically exposed person is involved and therefore this is an attack on the party.”

Borrowing the words of Professor Kweku Asare, he described the GETFund scandal as a “crime scene” which ought to be thoroughly investigated and perpetuators brought to book.

Source: GhanaWeb