Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has jumped to the defense of Members of Parliament (MPs) who were captured in a recent report as beneficiaries of the GETFund scholarship scheme.

A performance audit report of the Auditor-General on the administration of scholarships by the Fund revealed that Education Minister, Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, Procurement Minister and Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo as well as the Executive Secretary of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Prince Hamidu Armah have all benefitted from the scheme.

Many have therefore questioned the considerations that led to their eligibility for the scholarships.

But the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, speaking on PM Express Wednesday opined that the widely held notion that MPs are well-resourced and therefore cannot at some point be classified as needy, was wrong.

“If somebody wants to continue their education, at the particular time he or she cannot provide the funding for that enterprise… Some people think MPs are very well resourced… If at any given time, you need something that you don’t have, you can be classified as needy.

The Education Minister is listed as studying National and International Security at Harvard University, receiving $12,800 for living expenses and $11,200 as tuition fees. Procurement Minister, Sarah Adwoa Safo, is also listed studying at the Harvard Kennedy School enjoying $12,800 in allowances with $17,004 in tuition fees. Dr. Armah studied Philosophy in Education at the University of Aberdeen, which comes with a benefit of £38,400 for living expenses in addition to £33,000 for tuition fees.

Meanwhile, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told Evans Mensah he “disagrees with the modus of the Auditor-General”. According to him, the Auditor General is enjoined to “submit its report to Parliament to interrogate” in accordance with the 1992 constitution.

He says the subsequent publication of the report on the Audit Service’s website prior to the said interrogation by Parliament, leaves much to be desired.

“If they have submitted the report it is for Parliament that has to interrogate the report, Parliament hasn’t done so yet and then you go out and leak the report to the press.” Majority Leader said.

Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, whose name also appeared on the list issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Auditor-General on Tuesday to remove his name from the list published by his office or face possible court action.

But the Auditor-General has directed the Akim Swedru legislator to the GETFund secretariat for redress if he has concerns about the scholarship list released by his office. This, according to Daniel Yaw Domelevo, is because “every information or name that is contained in the performance audit report on GETFund came from GETFund, the audited entity.”