Government Releases GH¢80M to WAEC for BECE – Annoh-Dompreh

The Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, informed Parliament that the Finance Ministry has disbursed 80 million Ghana Cedis to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for organizing the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

This follows concerns raised by the Member of Parliament for Bole-Bamboi, Yusif Sulemana, on the floor of Parliament regarding the government’s outstanding payments to WAEC.

Initially, WAEC had received only GH₵2.3 million out of the required GH₵95.83 million, leading the council to request at least 50% of the total amount to carry out the examination, along with additional funds for processing and releasing the results.

The BECE is slated to occur from July 8 to July 15, 2024, at various centers throughout the country.

John Kapi, the Head of Public Relations at WAEC, previously expressed concerns in an interview with Graphic that the examination might face delays if the funds were not released on time.

He mentioned that although approximately GH¢6 million had been processed through the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS), it had not yet materialized into actual cash.

However, Frank Annoh-Dompreh assured Parliament that GH₵80 million has been disbursed to WAEC.

He mentioned that he had pursued the issue and received confirmation from the Minister of State, Abena Osei Asare, that the funds had indeed been disbursed.

“You raised an issue about the release to WAEC for the conduct of exams and the respected ranking member gave you copies. So myself and the Chief Whip, we followed up and spoke to the Minister of State, Abena Osei Asare, she got back to the Ministry and confirmed that indeed, they have made a significant release. We are told an amount of 80 million has been released.”