The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), has sacked its General Manager in charge of Management Information Systems (MIS), Dr. Caleb Afaglo, for securing a job at the Trust with fake degrees.
Dr. Afaglo was initially interdicted by the Trust.
SSNIT in a statement released today [Wednesday], says “evidence made available to the Trust indicates that the University degrees presented by Dr.Afaglo to secure his employment at the Trust are fake.”
The statement also said the “Trust will collaborate with the Economic and Organized Crimes Office (EOCO) to ensure that those suspected of breaches of the Law in respect of the OBS contract are dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land.”
Dr. Afaglo was interdicted by SSNIT on July 13, 2017, pending an EOCO investigation into his academic and professional qualifications.
Background
Suspicions arose earlier in 2017 with the controversy over SSNIT’s award of a $34 million contract for the development and implementation of an Operational Business Suite (OBS), which later ballooned to $72 million.
According to Citi News‘ checks, EOCO’s investigation was to ascertain the authenticity of Dr. Afaglo’s doctorate degree, and his tenure in previous organizations, with the suspicion that he was unqualified for the role he occupied at the state pension organization.
It is believed that his questionable qualifications contributed to failings within the Trust that led to the contract award with its attendant expenditure overruns.
EOCO conducted raids in his house, seized his passport and froze his bank account.
The crime office also interrogated members of Dr. Afaglo’s household, confiscated a number of documents belonging to him, spoke to former employers of his, including SIMNET, GLICO and Dominion University College.
EOCO is also investigating Dr. Afaglo’s BSC and MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. from the Kennedy Western University, which was an affiliate of the University of Cincinnati until it was closed down in 2011.
SSNIT gave Dr. Afaglo, who was appointed in October 2015 and confirmed in July 2016, a letter interdicting him on July 13, 2017, pending the outcome of an EOCO investigation into his academic and professional qualifications.
‘How did SSNIT miss this?’
The news of the interdiction of Dr. Afaglo sparked concerns over the poor recruitment process of public officers, with Parliament’s Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, highlighting the need for more accountability.
Mr. Mensah Bonsu bemoaned that current recruitment processes leave the public sector open to corruption and inefficiency.
He also noted that something as basic as a background check should not have been missed by SSNIT.
“We need to really open up so that if we advertise for a position, for whoever applies, there should be a system of looking at the background of the person. I am told that that person, in particular [Dr. Afaglo], had gone to secure employment at that place when he was found out and thrown out. So how was it that SSNIT was not able to detect it? How was it possible?”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
