The Ministry of Education (MoE) has refuted allegations made by the Minority in Parliament that the government owes over six billion Ghana Cedis to organizations and individuals involved in the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy.

The Minority caucus in Parliament claimed that the government has failed to pay over GH₵300 million for the procurement of 1.3 million tablets under the “One Student-One Laptop” initiative.

Additionally, they alleged that the government owes the West African Examinations Council GH₵224 million.

In response, the spokesperson for the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng, dismissed the allegations as unfounded.

“Let me hasten to clarify that the said amount being owed by the Ministry, in excess of 6 billion Ghana Cedis as claimed by the Minority in Parliament, is not accurate. The Ministry would have been more grateful if they had provided more clarification and details on where they obtained such figures.

“Because from our records, we do not have such representations even in terms of the outstanding arrears we owe our vendors, organizations, and individuals we work with.

“If you look at the claims made by the Minority, reference is made to the government owing the supplier for the ‘One Student-One Tablet Initiative’.

“But, clearly if you want to juxtapose that claim with the contract the government has with the suppliers, at the end of the day, the distribution is in phases, so at every point, the government will pay based on performance,” Kwasi Kwarteng added.

He spoke on Accra-based Citi FM.