Lawyers of the Ghana Book Publishers Association will this week initiate a legal action against the Education Ministry and the Ghana Trust Fund (GETFund) to retrieve an amount of 32 million dollars owed them.
Government contracted the Ghana Publishers Association to supply books to various secondary schools in the country at a cost of 32 million dollars.
Government has however refused to pay for distribution of the books by the Association.
The publishers involved in the distribution include Winmat Publishers Ltd., Approachers (Publishers) Ghana Ltd., Sedco Publishing Ltd. and Adwinsa Publications (Gh).
Although the Chief Director at the Education Ministry, Enoch H. Cobbinah last year ordered the GETFund to pay these publishers, it has refused to do so.
The Association noted that though they had fulfilled their part of the bargain by supplying text books to secondary schools in the country, government had refused to pay them.
Speaking to Citi News, the Executive Secretary of the Association, Fauna Frimpong said majority of the publishers are running out of business now, hence their decision.
Mr. Frimpong stated that the Association had “exhausted every avenue just to get the Ministry to heed to its concerns.”
“We have done everything that we can…what the Ministry is doing is way below the belt,” he added.
According to him, government had only paid 18 percent of the amount owed the Association, adding that the amount can only cater for the interest that has accumulated over the loan government took in executing the contract.
He therefore stated that the Association has resorted to seeking a legal action to have their concerns addressed
By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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