GETFund pays GH¢667M to settle 867 contractors

The Government through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) has settled part of outstanding debts owed contractors to the tune of GH¢667,793,936.27 as of November 2022.

This was in fulfilment of a promise made by the Administrator of GETFund, Dr. Richard Ampofo Boadu, on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, at the Stakeholder Engagement Forum organised by the Fund, held at the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Accra.

Dr. Boadu had assured the gathering that processes had commenced to settle claims covering 867 certified Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) on projects and supplies across the levels of education.

The Administrator had indicated how payments were going to be made via the mix of the funding sources; proceeds from Daakye Plc Bond Issuance and the government releases through the Controller and the Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) to the coffers of the Fund.

The highly patronized forum was graced by the Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, among other key stakeholders in the education sector.

The processes for the said payments that began mid-October 2022 with the signing of novation agreements with contractors covering 867 claims ended in November 2022 with the accounts of all contractors duly credited.

Breakdown of Payments

1. The paid claims covered 271 for basic schools’ projects amounting to GH¢40,925,832.52.
2. The payments for second-cycle schools covered 351 certificates with a total sum of GH¢434,732,042.82.
3. A total of 242 tertiary institution claims were paid to the tune of GH¢188,845,374.61.
4. Other claims from the Ministry of Education paid, amounted to GH¢3,290,686.32.

It must be noted that the Daakye payments covered mainly emergency projects that were awarded between 2017 — 2022 and certificates were received and processed by 30 September 2022.

The tertiary claims covered about 92% of certificates on legacy projects inherited by the current administration, received and processed by 30 September 2022, by the Fund.

“GETFund would like to assure contractors that plans are in place to settle all outstanding certificates in an effort to complete stalled projects in our schools within the next three years”, a statement from the Fund mentioned.

 

Source: Citi Business News