Official nabbed in ‘ghost teacher’ scam

AN official in the Ministry of Education appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with a ‘ghost teacher’ scam that has been haunting the ministry for years.

Laurentius van Wyk is charged under the Anti-Corruption Act for using his office for personal gratification.The Ministry of Education has lost millions of dollars by paying non-existent teachers on its payroll.It is alleged that Van Wyk is one of a number of ‘inside men’ in the scam and according to Anti-Corruption Commission director Paulus Noa it is highly unlikely that he was working alone.Van Wyk appeared before Magistrate Leopold Hangalo where his case was postponed to December 9 for a formal bail application. Van Wyk was arrested on Tuesday and has been in Police custody since then.According to a recent newspaper report, fraudsters work in cahoots with ministerial staff in regional educational offices, who help to submit fake documents to get ‘ghost teachers’ onto the system.Noa said his agency has zoomed in on the Ministry of Education to weed out insiders in the ‘ghost teacher’ scam that has cost the State millions of dollars.According to a media report, corrupt officials would submit the name of a ‘ghost worker’ to the payroll office, pretending that the individual is employed by the ministry.These individuals are then paid monthly salaries by the Ministry of Education, and it is believed that the money is shared by the fraudsters and the corrupt insiders.Noa would not divulge much about the case, as it is still under investigation.But it is believed that fake employees submit what is known as an ‘appointment advice’, a letter which is presented to the ministry’s payroll office as proof of appointment.Noa said an individual’s identity document is used to process that person as a newly appointed teacher. The ‘ghost teacher’ is electronically ‘posted’ to one of the outlying regions and put on the highest possible salary.Noa has called on the Ministry of Education to audit its payroll system so that similar cases could be identified.In one reported incident, an individual reportedly received a monthly salary of N$14 000 for 20 months, totalling N$280 000, without being detected as a ‘ghost teacher’.