Will the new minister Antoine Augustin, new president of the Board of Directors of the FNE, tell the country and the Diaspora where the money from the National Education Fund has gone?
When it comes to raising money for programs where there are serious doubts about their feasibility, the PHTK regime spares no one.
We have the perfect example with the Free Education program for which a Fund was created in 2017 with 24 sources of funding: The National Education Fund (FNE)
From “Pèpè” sellers to borlette sellers, including the Diaspora, Natcom, Digicel, BNC, BRH, etc. All these companies must contribute, according to the provisions of the law that the PHTK regime passed.
Big clouds hang over the use that is made of the FNE money.
However, the opportunity is provided to the brand new President of the Board of Directors of FNE, Me. Antoine Augustin, to tell the country and the Diaspora, where the billions of the FNE have gone.
Will he do it in this inventory that he promised to submit soon to the Prime Minister?
The law establishing the creation, operation and organization of the National Education Fund (FNE) makes the Minister of Education and Vocational Training the President of the Board of Directors of the FNE, this institution whose mission is to participate in the the effort of Education for All in Haiti and to manage the funds intended for financing, both at the State level and at the level of local authorities, expenditure relating to education, in particular tuition courses for the benefit of Haitian schoolchildren, projects and studies likely to contribute to the advancement of children’s education and finally, the construction or improvement of the country’s school infrastructure.
Professor Antoine Augustin, appointed Minister of Education and Vocational Training, was installed in his post this week. As Minister of Education, he is also the President of the Board of Directors (CA) of the FNE, the highest body of this institution, the four other members of the CA of which are:
The Minister of Economy and Finance, vice-president of the Board of Directors of FNE The Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, The Minister of Haitians Living Abroad A representative from the teachers union sector A major financial scandal recently shook this autonomous institution, which has the following 24 sources of financing:
Royalties and rights Budgetary allocations included in the budget of the Republic Donations, registered budgetary subsidies or possible contributions Donations, subsidies or possible contributions from local authorities Donations from national or international partners, Loans that the State can contract with local and foreign financial institutions Taxes set by law The special gratuity tax which will be levied on each employee of the public sector (except teachers) and the annual taxes declared by actors in the informal sector A special tax which will be levied on each bottle of carbonated gas, on each telephone card sold in the country by companies A special tax on products and services for each purchase made (except for essential products) A special tax on monthly income from private schools and universities A special tax on monthly income from nightclubs A special tax from the accumulated educational obligations of private schools A special teacher support tax (TSE) from each luxury product, each imported “Pèpè” item, each hotel room occupied by a foreigner, each car part sold and each imported car . A special tax from the monthly pensions of public school teachers and public university professors from the first year to the tenth year of pension The product of The fee levied on each minute of incoming and outgoing international calls The proceeds of The fee levied on each transfer of international funds A percentage of rights and concessions on casinos A percentage of revenues generated by concessions from the Haitian state lottery, lotto and other games of chance A percentage of winnings from games of chance 2A percentage of the special tax on imported alcoholic products and tobacco A percentage of dividends paid to the State by companies whose capital is held in whole or in part by the State A percentage of the net profits generated by the Bank of the Republic of Haiti A percentage of net profits generated by state commercial banks The teacher Robert Berrouët-Oriol, in a recent article, raised many questions which should interest the brand new President of the Board of Directors of the FNE, Me. Antoine Augustin.
In particular he noted in this regard:
Several fundamental questions remain open: What is the total amount of money raised by the FNE from 2011 to 2024 ?
Have the total sums raised by the FNE from 2011 to 2024 been the subject of a financial statement each year (source of funds, revenue and expenditure, supporting documents) ?
Even though the current director of FNÉ goes on a crusade against an alleged “smear campaign on social networks” targeting his institution, how is it that he has never presented -financial statements (source of funds, revenue and expenditure, supporting documents) from the National Education Fund since his arrival at the management of this institution in 2021 ?
It was noted that during his press conference on April 16, 2024, the current director of FNÉ did not present any official document entitled “ financial state of National Education Fund » covering the period 2021 (date of his installation as director) to 2024: Jean Ronald Joseph should know that the accounting audit that he believes he can request cannot be conducted in the absence of the financial statements of his institution… Fourth major question: what justifies the financial state of National Education Fund, from 2011 to 2024, are the object of a total omertà, of a deafening “secret of the tombs » ? Fifth major question: the appointment of Jean Ronald Joseph as director of the National Education Fund is she constitutional and legally founded ? Shouldn’t this appointment have been approved by Parliament? –it is true that in 2021 Parliament had already been “dismantled” by the PHTK, but the principle of parliamentary sanction remains founded since the 1987 Constitution is still in force. With this in mind, it is justified to maintain that all administrative acts carried out by the current director of FNÉ are unconstitutional and illegal – even if they were approved by the supervisory ministry, the MENFP –, and the current director of FNÉ has no legal provision to initiate “defamation actions (…) at the level of justice against his detractors” as he announced during his press conference on April 16, 2024. A sixth question must also be asked: the 1987 Constitution and current laws authorize a minister to be President of the Council administration of an autonomous state institution as is the case in FNÉ (« The presidency of the board [d’administration du FNÉ] is ensured by the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, the vice-presidency by the Minister of Economy and Finance » (source: official website of National Education Fund). Seventh major question: Is not there any conflict of interest when a minister, exercising a right of supervision over a state institution, is at the same time the president of the board of directors of this institution? This seventh major question must be put into perspective on the register of governance ethics especially since the minister in fact of National Education, Nesmy Manigat, recently held the position of chairman of the Governance, Ethics, Risk and Financing Committee of the Global Partnership for Education… Please note, former Minister Nesmy Manigat is currently the Director of Prime Minister Conille’s Cabinet. As such, it is he who will have to deal with “the state of affairs relating to the FNE” and advise the PM on the decisions to be taken.
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