By Issah Olegor
Fresh cracks are emerging within the education administration following a controversial closed-door meeting at the Ministry of Education, with new accounts challenging widely circulated reports of a dramatic standoff between the Ghana Education Trust Fund Administrator and the sector Minister.
Instead of open confrontation, insiders now describe a more complex situation—one shaped by policy disagreements, internal power struggles, and allegations of political and ethnic undercurrents.
At the centre of the controversy is the relationship between GETFund Administrator, Paul Adjei and Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, following claims that the former had resisted ministerial directives during a high-level stakeholder meeting. But a source who was present—identified as a member of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools, CHASS—has firmly dismissed that narrative, insisting there was no defiance or confrontation.
According to the insider, the meeting—held behind closed doors—was largely calm and focused on addressing persistent procurement bottlenecks affecting the supply of perishable food items to Senior High Schools under the Free SHS programme.
Discussions involved multiple stakeholders, including CHASS leadership, the Conference of Principals of Technical Institutions (COPTI), the Free SHS Secretariat, and officials from GETFund.
“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 aimed at discrediting the Administrator.
The meeting itself was comvened in response to growing complaints from school heads over delays in the release of funds for perishables—an issue already threatening the stability of the school feeding system nationwide.
While stakeholders acknowledged the urgency of the situation, the discussions reportedly ended without a concrete resolution, leaving critical concerns about food supply and school operations unresolved.
However, what has drawn even greater attention is what insiders describe as a broader agenda unfolding behind the scenes.
Sources within the ministry allege that the controversy may be part of an orchestrated attempt to pressure the GETFund Administrator and his deputy, Alhassan Dandawa, into stepping 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.
More controversially, some insiders point to alleged remarks attributed to the Minister expressing discomfort with the Administrator’s ethnic background, suggesting that deeper tribal considerations may be influencing tensions within the sector.
These claims, while unverified officially, have intensified concerns about politicisation 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 participants, 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 through its Commitment Authorization framework—not agencies such as the Ghana Education Service or the Ghana TVET Service, as had reportedly been suggested during discussions.
