The Majority Chief Whip in Parliament, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has revealed that an amount of GHC80 million has been released by the Finance Ministry to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for the conduct of this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

This comes after the Member of Parliament for Bole-Bamboi, Yusif Sulemana raised concerns on the floor of Parliament about the government’s indebtedness to the WAEC.

It has been widely broadcasts that uncertainty hangs over the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as the examinations body, WAEC, waits to recoup almost 98 per cent of GH¢95.83 million it needs to organise the examination.

WAEC is reported to have received just about GH¢2.8 million out of GH¢95.83 million required to successfully facilitate the exam.

But the Council insists that it would require not less than 50 per cent of the total amount to enable it to conduct the examination and a further release of more funds to enable it to process and release the results.

The examination is scheduled to commence on Monday, July 8 and end on Monday, July 15, 2024, at all centres across the country.

Head of the Public Relations of WAEC, John Kapi is reported to have said that even though some GH¢6 million had been processed through the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS), it was yet to be translated into real cash.

Members of the Minority in Parliament had cause to raise the matter on the floor on Friday.

In response, Frank Annoh-Dompreh noted that significant releases have been made by the government to the effect.

“When this morning, we came to the chamber, the ranking member raised the matter. I followed up with a call together with the Minority Chief Whip to the Minister of State responsible for Finance. We are told an amount of GHC80 million has been released to WAEC,” The Majority Chief Whip has noted.