EX – UPSA INTERNAL AUDITOR QUESTIONS NEUTRALITY AND INDEPENDENCE OF COMMITTEE SET TO INVESTIGATE ROT AND PROCUREMENT INFRACTIONS AT UPSA
Mr. Michael Quaye, who is the Petitioner in the ongoing saga between himself and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, has questioned the neutrality and independence of the committee tasked to look into a petition brought before it.
Speaking to the media from his base in the USA, the former UPSA Internal Auditor expressed dismay at the composition of the committee and decline to further go ahead with the issue. “If you have a composition that comprises of members that have their promotions, appraisals and their existence in the University intricately connected to a person who they are probing, how do you trust to get a fair hearing and a good judgment” he queried?
“In as much as I elected to appear before the committee, I had a firm believe that its members will not only be independent but neutral and its composition will include people with forensic Audit experience to uncover the rot and massive corruption especially issues pertaining to falsified documents and procurements infractions. I also expected that an interview will be conducted widely with the staff of the University within the period under consideration. Additionally, I am of the firm believe that, the Vice-Chancellor must be made to also step aside before any meaningful work can be done.’
You will recall that in my petition, that was leaked to the media, what I seeked to request from the Presidency and the University Governing Council was to get an external Independent committee to look at the issues raised therein. As a professional with many years of Audit experience, there is good reason for making that request; my objection is based on the following reasons contained in the link below; and so for all stakeholders internally and externally who have been keenly following this expose and rot, I have provided a written reasoning for my objection of the composition of the committee and submitted same to the University.
This is not to mean the issues raised lacked merits.
For instance, I opined, the VC violated the President order on purchase of Vehicles in 2017. This is a matter of public record and is this not worth investigating by an external independent committee?” In my whole life as an Audit person, the ordeal at UPSA is one grave one; and Ghana as a country can save a lot if we purge ourselves from corruption and wanton dissipation of public funds.
Also, my attention has been drawn to a series of false newspaper publication which appeared on the front page of the new Weekend Crusading Guide on the 14th August and 4th September, 2020 edition with the caption “Ex. Auditor’s Lies against UPSA VC falls Flat” and” Ex-UPSA Auditor in hot waters as VC hauls him and 9 others to court overlies” respectively.
It has become the norm of the freefalling VC to rent some pressmen and media houses to shut me down with frivolous publications even when a committee is yet to be set at the time. But as the saying goes; truth will always expose the pack of lies.
In the said publication, however, the VC in an attempt to gag media houses who has taken this task to expose corruption surrounding his tenure as UPSA VC have rather made these media houses the main defendant and I, the principal petitioner have been made the 10th defendant in the said suit. This is childish and obviously orchestrated to frustrate media houses from uncovering the rot which I have given evidence to. It must be noted that, I have not been served with any writ whatsoever and this is just a legal gimmick to restrain other media houses from following this case to its logical conclusion. For a VC who bought his PHD from the shelve in a 3rd world Country (Nicaragua), in a University that has no ranking, this must not be a reason not to be aware of the provisions of the whistleblower’s Act (Act 720) (2006), which gives mandate to ordinary citizens to disclose, without fear of victimization, the corrupt and unlawful acts of people; like the UPSA Vice-Chancellor.
As a law-abiding citizen, a proud member of the AICPA and a former Internal Auditor under whose tenure these activities of massive corruption by the VC took place, it is my civic responsibility to God and Country to bring to limelight some of these acts of infractions and rot. I want to state categorically that the allegations against the VC still holds and evidence are available for perusal by any state external investigative body. I want to reiterate that, the Vice-Chancellor violated the Presidents order of a ban on the purchase of Vehicles by state Institutions and Agency in 2017. At the time, the University had no governing Council and as a result, no entity Tender Committee worked on the procurement on the purchase of Cars that cost the Taxpayer so much.
Also, in 2018, the VC and his surrogate Company, Pages Ink & More were contracted to print and supply 4000 copies of student handbook costing GHS.95,584 but supplied only 200 copies. They were paid the full amount of GHS. 95,584. On the issue of employment too, the Vice Chancellor employed six unqualified students with only first degree under the guise of them being Tutors. They were employed as Assistant lectures and put on Government payroll for more than two (2) years. They did not even make them sign any bond until recently when the issues became a subject of internal audit report that they took action on that. Their personal records has been falsified to reflect them qualified for their positions as at their recruitment time in 2017.
This is where it even gets interesting, included in the list of six above is the personal secretary of the Vice-Chancellor who was Paid 2 years’ salary as Assistant lecturer with Bachelor degree.
The Vice-Chancellor apart from the 6 persons above employed his pastor’s son as Assistant lecturer with a post graduate diploma from GIMPA. (This post-graduate Diploma was designed for students who had 3rd class at the undergraduate level and not qualified to pursue Master’s degree). The Records has since been falsified after I confronted the Vice-Chancellor on that anomaly.”
This and many others are the reasons I sent a petition to the President and Governing Council to investigate the issues I have raised.
Though an assassination attempt was made on my life culminating in the loss of my car, iPhone, IPad, laptops, jewelry of my wife and cash which led to my fleeing from Ghana, I have not relented in fighting the rot and massive corruption I witnessed as the internal Auditor at UPSA from 2017 to 2019 under the Leadership of Abednego Okoe Amartey; to the conspirators and Orchestrators, I SAY VENGEANCE IS OF THE LORD.
I would like to thank all and sundry who have offered help to me during these trying times especially to the many Anti-Corruption campaigners and the rank and file of the University of Professional Studies, Accra who for fear of their dear life I cannot disclose. As a devoted Christian, I have at this point through a somber reflection, decided to heed to the calls by friends in the clergy, traditional leaders, family and close associates not to pursue this issue further till an independent external committee with forensic Audit experience are tasked to uncover the rot, huge procurement infractions and massive corruption especially issues pertaining to causing financial loss to save the poor tax payer and the poor student who is burdened with huge fees that runs the University. Consequently, I have on this day, temporarily decided to end the media banter.
Notwithstanding, I have also uncovered a grand conspiracy by the VC to write malicious lies about my credentials through paid media with his ill-gotten wealth; colleagues and friends are entreated to disregard these machinations by a man who once served as a protégé of the revered Alabi’s by holding their bags through international Transit Halls all over the world but for ungratefulness. For the records, I have attached copies of my qualifications which puts my credentials with both the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to bed.
I will like to rather jog the memory of Abednego Amartey Feehi to purge himself from further humiliation as his qualifications are known to be botched in the Academic circles to warrant being a Vice Chancellor.
It is an open secret that not only do many people in the University of Professional Studies, Accra have astute qualifications than the VC but also an incontrovertible fact that his Pro Vice Chancellor is even more qualified and has a good PHD.
Finally, I wish to implore my working colleagues at UPSA and the GAUA fraternity to be steadfast in their approach to work; the days of oppression and culture of silence will soon be a thing of the past; be inspired by Exodus 14:13 (“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
Michael Borketey Quaye
United States of America