A private legal practitioner has settled the question of ministerial authority over the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) with a direct reading of the statute, saying the law leaves no room for the institutional confusion now playing out in public.
Lom Nuku Ahlijah, speaking on the AM Show on Joy News, said Section 25 of the GETFund Act explicitly names the Minister of Education as the responsible minister for the fund, making the current standoff between the fund’s administrator and Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu a matter of straightforward legal hierarchy.
“For me, it is a no-brainer. GETFund reports to the Minister of Education, and directives from the minister in education matters take precedence,” he said.
Reports suggest the GETFund Administrator indicated he takes instructions from the Finance Ministry rather than the Education Ministry, a position Ahlijah directly contested. He acknowledged that operational overlaps with the Ministry of Finance exist, particularly around fund disbursement, but maintained that they do not alter the primary line of authority established by the Act.
The dispute escalated after a high-level meeting convened by Minister Iddrisu to resolve the feeding crisis within the Free Senior High School programme ended without resolution, following the GETFund administrator’s open refusal to comply with a ministerial directive during the session.
Ahlijah said the consequences of the breakdown are unacceptable. He argued that GETFund’s mandate to finance education at all levels means delayed fund releases should not be forcing schools to the brink of suspending academic activities.
“In 2026, schools closing because funds are not released in time should not be happening. The mandate is to support education, so the system should simply work,” he said.
The 2026 budget allocated GH¢4.2 billion from GETFund, roughly 42 percent of the fund’s total resources, toward Free SHS operational costs, including feeding and day-to-day school expenses.
Stakeholders are expected to reconvene to attempt a resolution, though the public nature of the clash has raised broader questions about accountability within the governance structure of one of Ghana’s most politically sensitive education programmes.
