What do you do as the body responsible for giving out student loans? You blow a huge chunk of your capital on housing, of course.
The Student Loan Trust Fund, the body in charge of administering student loans to students in need, spent $178,080 to rent their office building for two years.
The 2014 auditor general’s report brought the arrangement to light, showing the deposit they made in 2011 for their Assylum Down based office.
Much like the case of the CHRAJ boss Lauretta Lamptey, a state body is using funds in a way that is inefficient, and which ultimately derails the purpose for which it was set up.
The Chief Executive Officer of the fund, Sheila Boamah, told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee that despite several attempts to get a permanent residence from government, their attempts have been rebuffed, which has necessitated spending obscene amounts to maintain their rented premises.
She also said they usually fail to get all the money allocated to them from government. Worse, some beneficiaries of the fund fail to pay back their loans. The body is currently embroiled in a mass effort to chase down defaulting persons.