Deputy Minister of Education, Mahama Ayariga has discounted media reports that he inflated the cost for the purchase of "Atlas" for Junior High School (JHS), insisting that the $44 million quoted in some newspapers is rather for the procurement of Social Studies text books.

Mahama Ayariga is said to have ordered the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to look for money at all cost and pay a contract worth $44 million for the supply of Atlas books for JHS.

The cost of the Social Studies book was to be borne by the GETFund, which said it had no budget for the Social Studies Atlas book.

According to sources, the book itself did not meet the standards, and likely to be rejected by the schools.

“Under the terms of the contract, 50% mobilization is expected to be advanced to the publishers against advance payment guarantee from a financial institution…Due to the urgency of the request, we trust that you will deal with the matter expeditiously,” Mr. Ayariga wrote in a letter dated January 31, 2012, a few days after Betty Mould-Iddrisu had resigned as Minister, owing to the Alfred Agbesi Woyome GH¢51.2 million gargantuan scandal.

Some have questioned the rationale behind buying $44million books for just one subject and Mr. Ayariga was the person leading the crusade since he was not in charge of Pre-Tertiary Education, but Mrs. Elizabeth Tetteh-Amoah, who recently lost her bid to represent Ati Mokwa constituency in Parliament at the NDC primary.

Tongues were wagging as to why a single publisher, Approachers, was given a whopping $25 million of the contract.

The five publishers and their allocations were Approachers Ghana Ltd. $25,000,000; EPP Books services, $7,496,000; Winmat Publishers Ltd. $5,500,000; Adwinsa Publishers, $5,000,000; and Sedco Publishing Ltd., $1,000,000, all totaling $43,996,000.

The Deputy Education Minister, with a tone of urgency in his letter, is said to have directed GETFund to secure a loan for the purchase of the book from a financial institution.

“It would be highly appreciated if you could take steps to source a loan facility to cove the advance mobilization not exceeding the prime interest rate of 17% p.a. interest,” he indicated in the letter he wrote on behalf of the then acting Education Minister, E.T. Mensah.

But speaking in an interview on Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, with host Kwami Sefa-Kayi, the deputy Education Minister explained that his only role in the procurement was the authorization that the mobilization that is supposed to be paid to the suppliers according to the contract is given out.

According to him, the books ordered for are not ‘Atlases’ as put out by the media. He said they are Social Studies text books with Atlases to help the students understand what has been written in the Text Book.

“Social Studies Atlas is not just an Atlas; it’s a Social Studies text book with atlases illustrating concepts, systems and ideas that are being taught in schools…the price that has been quoted is the production of the books because it is the suppliers who are supposed to provide the books at the schools. So this is production cost, printing cost and delivering to where the books are supposed to go to,” he expounded.

He revealed that the Ghana Education Service is procuring the books at GH¢15 per copy instead of the current selling price of GH¢53 per Copy.

“I have never been involved in it beyond the fact that I am at the Ministry and the procurement division of the ministry are going on with their procurement exercise…That I have taken 44 million Cedis, my brother, I am not capable of it…,” he said.

Mr Ayariga further stated that when he compared the prices of the book on the market to the one the suppliers gave to the Ministry, it is a good deal.

“…I took time off myself to go and look, especially when people started complaining that the prices were too much, it is not just an Atlas, it is a Social Studies text book with Atlases illustrating the various subjects which are been taught in the text book…,” he added.