Teachers in the Nkwanta-North District in the Volta region have expressed disgust over the alleged issuance of University of Cape Coast (UCC) Diploma Certificate in Education to Senior High School (SHS) drop outs by the Deputy Director in Charge of Finance and Administration at the District office.

They, therefore, want the Economic and Organized Crime Office to as a matter of urgency conduct investigation into the claim and prosecute those found culpable.

The aggrieved teachers, who call themselves the Concerned Teachers of Nkwanta North District, were planning to embark on a demonstration after the discovery of the fake certificates in the hands of the drop outs.

According to the teachers, the Assistant Director of Education in charge of Finance and Administration, Rev. John Koesa Ayayee, has been mentioned by the certificate holders as the person who gave it to them. They also alleged that the Assistant Director had collected GHc500 each from them so they could be employed and work as teachers in the area.

According to the concerned teachers, some of them went through difficult situations in their studies at the UCC before the Diploma Certificate in Education and Degrees were awarded to them.

They are, therefore, shocked that the “prestigious” certificate that they toiled for over the years could be offered to people who did not even qualify for admission into the University by Rev. Ayayee.

Four people who were caught with the Diploma Certificate in Education from the University of Cape Coast were named as Joshua Bindati, Agbesi Agbedufia, Rosemary Nsiah and Lydia Malmalde.

The teachers noted that Rev. Ayayee was allegedly involved in a number of activities that could lead to criminal and civil charges against him. According to them, Ayayee had over the years engaged pupil teachers to occupy classrooms in the area, alleging that the same Rev. Ayayee had collected various sums of money from pupil teachers and transferred trained teachers from the District capital Kpassa to remote communities.

According to the teachers, the Nkwanta North District Director of Education, Mr. Maxwell Gbakah ought to be commended and rewarded by the GES and the authorities of the University of Cape Coast, because had it not been the display of high level of professionalism in the Discharge of his duties, the alleged fraud discovered at the District office would have continued unnoticed.

They also alleged that the Rev. Ayayee again helped to secure GHc3,000 each for some pupil teachers, including the four holding the fake certificates in December 2014, as back pay.

The concerned teachers stressed that the most annoying aspect of the behaviour of Rev. Ayayee was that after he surreptitiously provided the people with the fake Diploma certificates, he again upgraded them to the position of Senior Superintendent Two, a position some of the teachers said they struggled to attain.

When contacted on his cell phone, the Nkwanta North District Director of Education, Mr. Gbaka, confirmed the story and explained that some teachers expressed concern about the issue but there was no evidence until he personally discovered four pupil teachers whose documents were being processed for upgrading by Rev. Ayayee, who brought the documents to his office for final signing.

Mr. Gbakah said after discovering four Diploma certificates of the four pupil teachers, he invited them to his office in the presence of the Assistant Director in charge of Administration and Finance, as well as other officers, where he (District Director) interrogated the four persons, who openly told him that they never attended any Teacher College of Education or the University of Cape Coast and mentioned Rev. Ayayee as the person who provided them with the certificates, but Rev. Ayayee immediately denied the allegation.

The District Director continued that he became much worried about the situation and immediately constituted a committee at the District level to investigate circumstances leading to pupil teachers acquiring Diploma certificates issued by the University of Cape Coast without attending the institution and ordered their withdrawal from the various schools.

The work of the committee would include among others, where they had the certificates, before a formal report would be given to the Regional Education office on the issue.

Mr. Gbakah said he believed that the sealed Diploma certificates in the hands of JHS school drop outs and SHS failures clearly showed that there might be a syndicate group who scan the signatures of the certificates and issued them to people mostly in rural areas to make money, where the people would be less suspicious.

Rev. Ayayee, when contacted, confirmed the story but denied ever providing the certificates for the students. He, however, admitted to the collection of GHc500 from the fake certificate holders to facilitate the process of upgrading for them. According to him, he did not know that the four fake certificate holders did not attend the UCC.

The District Director in charge of Administration and Finance stressed that the way and manner things went, particularly when the District Director finally discovered the fraud, made him (Rev. Ayayee) feel guilty and he would be ready to accept any blame, because he should have been more vigilant in the discharge of his duties.