Justin Kodua Frimpong, Acting CEO - Youth Employment Agency
Speaking Points
1. The Internal Audit Agency did not give the previous management any opportunity to respond to their observations. This is unethical and contrary to the International Standards on Internal Auditing.
The Internal Audit Agency as the regulators of internal audit practice is being unprofessional and bias.
2. The electronic system used in the payment of beneficiaries makes it impossible to pay beneficiaries without appointment letters. The assertion of paying beneficiaries without appointment letters cannot be true.
Without generating appointment letters, the system CANNOT migrate a beneficiary for placement on payroll.
3. Majority of the over aged beneficiaries (34 years +) are found in the Coastal Sanitation (beach and water bodies cleaning) and Arabic Teachers module. Interest in the modules by the qualified age bracket (15-34 years old) was extremely low.
The previous management took a decision to allow those above 34 years to go through because of the importance of the modules.
Evidence also shows that the current management has issued appointment letters to beneficiaries who are above 34 years in the Agric Extension Module.
4. On the issue of signature, the appointment letters were for existing beneficiaries so obviously would bear former CEO’s signature. They were recruited by him. However, because the appointment letters are printed online, the date of printing shows, in this case, March and April, 2017 when the former CEO had handed over. Again, it is the duty of the system administrators of the Agency to effect changes in signatures on the system. Former President Mahama image on the website was hurriedly replaced with that of President Akufo Addo by the system administrators. The question to ask is why was same not done with the signatures when Justin Koduah officially took over from Ebo Beecham?
The date of online PRINTING showing on a valid appointment letter obviously cannot invalidate the letters.
5. On conducting the Monitoring and Evaluation across the country...
A. Some teams couldn't complete the headcount in the District and because they had to meet their schedule abandoned the beneficiaries and went to other districts. Are the remaining beneficiaries ghosts?
B. The schedule was changed severally until some beneficiaries failed to show up on the final day.
C. Beneficiaries were forced to show up on weekends and holidays. Some obviously couldn't make it.
D. The data collected is so unreliable that management is now reverting to the system implemented by the previous administration after wasting huge sums of money on the exercise.
E. On the morning of Thursday June 8, 2017 management directed all District Directors to submit lists of beneficiaries’ who have vacated post in their respective districts. This was after management took to the media to declare nonexistent figures as beneficiaries’ who have been taken of the payroll for being ghosts.
The underlying factor for all the media noise is just to provide the justification for the impending replacement of all staff at the Regions and Districts following the replacement of all heads at national and regional levels with NPP youth organizers.
1. Almost 450 staff have been transferred across Regions.
2. Pregnant women who are almost due have been transferred across Regions. E.g. from Asuogyamang in the Eastern Region to Upper East
3. Mothers on maternity leave have been given one week to report to their new stations even though they have been transferred outside their current Regions.
4. Junior staff have also not been left out.
A camera man has been transferred from Head Office to Northern Region where his services are not needed.
Receptionist, security men, clerks, Secretaries, drivers etc have all not been spared in this inter regional transfers
5. Per the law, staff are to be given three months advance notice or one month in the case of emergency but staff have been given just three days’ notice on these transfers.
In all, all heads of departments and regional directors have been replaced by less qualified youth organizers. Now they are moving around all 216 District Directors in other to replace them with their constituency youth organizers.
1. The staff recruited have been illegally placed above their qualifications and are being paid huge sums of money as salaries.
They have refused to comply with the scheme of service approved by the PSC.