Fresh divisions have surfaced in Ghana’s education administration after a controversial closed-door meeting at the Ministry of Education. New accounts dispute earlier reports of a heated standoff between the GETFund Administrator and the sector minister.
Insiders instead point to a more nuanced situation, citing policy disagreements, internal power struggles, and claims of political and ethnic tensions behind the scenes.
The controversy centers on GETFund Administrator Paul Adjei and Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, after claims that Adjei resisted ministerial directives at a high-level stakeholder meeting.
A source present at the meeting, identified as a CHASS member, rejects that narrative and insists there was no defiance or confrontation.
The insider says the closed-door meeting was largely calm and focused on resolving procurement bottlenecks affecting perishable food supplies to Senior High Schools under the Free SHS programme.
Discussions included CHASS leadership, COPTI, the Free SHS Secretariat, and GETFund officials.
“At no point did the GETFund Administrator refuse or challenge the Minister,” the source clarified, stressing that compliance with directives is measured through implementation, not exchanges during meetings.
The portrayal of a heated clash, the source added, appears to be a deliberate misrepresentation intended to discredit the Administrator.
The meeting was called due to mounting complaints from school heads about delays in releasing funds for perishables, a problem already threatening the stability of the school feeding system nationwide.
Stakeholders agreed on the urgency, but the discussions reportedly ended without a firm resolution, leaving key concerns over food supply and school operations unsettled.
What’s drawing even more attention is what insiders call an unfolding agenda behind the scenes. Ministry sources allege the controversy may be part of a coordinated push to force GETFund Administrator Paul Adjei and his deputy, Alhassan Dandawa, to step aside.
According to these claims, there are efforts to create grounds for their removal—either through resignation or dismissal—to pave the way for new appointees aligned with the Minister’s inner circle.
More controversially, some insiders point to alleged remarks by the Minister expressing discomfort with the Administrator’s ethnic background, suggesting that deeper tribal considerations may be fueling tensions within the sector.
These claims, while unverified officially, have intensified concerns about politicization and internal divisions within the education governance structure.
Compounding the situation is the unexpected leakage of details from what was intended to be a strictly confidential, in-camera meeting.
Participants have questioned how internal deliberations quickly found their way into the public domain—often in distorted forms.
The breach has sparked suspicion among attendees, with some raising concerns about whether recording devices may have been planted in the meeting room prior to the engagement.
While no evidence has been publicly presented to support this claim, the mere suggestion reflects the level of mistrust now surrounding internal processes within the ministry.
One key issue highlighted during the meeting was the question of procurement authority.
According to insiders, the GETFund Administrator reiterated that, under existing arrangements, procurement initiation falls within GETFund’s mandate under its Commitment Authorization framework—not with agencies such as the Ghana Education Service or the Ghana TVET Service, as had reportedly been suggested during discussions.
