The UNAD denied some of the accusations made by Andrés Idárraga, Secretary of Transparency of the Presidency of the Republic, who affirmed that the institution has alleged irregularities in the contracting processes and execution of works.
The National Open and Distance University -UNAD- called a press conference on the morning of Tuesday, March 7, to clarify, through the rectory, some of the complaints made by the anti-corruption official.
The foregoing after Idárraga pointed out, on February 20, that the ONE D presents strong inconsistencies in the execution of works, as well as in the bidding process thereof.
According to the official, who gave his arguments during a hearing on anti-democracy and corruption in public universities, in the Congress of the Republic, the alleged irregularities were detailed through an anonymous report that reached the Transparency Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic.
I thank the representatives @becerragabo y @suarezvacca, for his invitation to the hearing ‘Anti-democracy and corruption in public universities’. I open a thread about my intervention about the alleged irregularities found in the @UniversidadUNAD ???????????? pic.twitter.com/2Q8ZVIZSMv
– Andrés Idárraga Franco (@Aidarragaf) February 20, 2023
In this sense, Jaime Alberto Leal, rector of the institution, was forced to deny some of Idárraga’s accusations at a press conference, given that “It has affected the Unadista community”.
“I am here facing the country to respond to the questions and demonstrate with evidence that what was said from the Secretariat of Transparency and that it was raised in the Congress of the Republic, it is not true”, said the rector at the beginning of the conference.
Thus, faced with the questions, mainly about the management of resources, Leal affirmed that one of the complaints made by the official about the 13 campuses of the university that supposedly have not been built and that they are a ‘white elephant’, are false.
“Today we want to show you, dear members of communication and the Colombian press, that headquarters are not elephants and that precisely the transmissions that we are making for you today come from these 13 centers that have been called ‘white elephants’”, assured the rector of UNAD.
Therefore, the institution announced the 13 educational virtual care projects in the municipalities of Pamplona, Cartagena, Quibdó, Corozal, Zipaquirá, Bucaramanga, Barranquilla-Puerto Colombia, Facatativá, Cúcuta, Neiva, Pasto, Pitalito and San José del Guaviarewhich were finished.
At the same time, regarding another of the complaints about corruption, Idárraga stated that between 2007 and 2022, apparently, “The hiring has not been public and has been done without analysis of the economic offers”.
Therefore, Leal replied that does not have knowledge about the two bidders in which, apparently, they have concentrated the hiring of the institution, however, the university, in the words of the aforementioned, follows some institutional rules to have transparent hiring.
“University It has clearly established the contracting statutes that talk about bidding and direct contracting in all these venues, which today were questionable, following the corresponding legal processes”, emphasized Jaime Alberto Leal, rector of UNAD.
However, Idárraga commented that although he respects the internal regulations of each university, they cannot bypass public procurement and that the guarantee must have effective intervention mechanisms.
Likewise, the director of the institution emphasized that UNAD is one of the institutions with the greatest coverage in Colombiaso the accusations about alleged irregularities affect them.
On the other hand, Leal presented the financial statements of the university, arguing that the construction of the 13 headquarters It was thanks to the Findeter credit line for $60,000 millionwhich allowed it to impact a greater number of students.
At the same time, the rector requested a meeting with Andrés Idárraga, but this was scheduled for 7 weeks laterso that, according to Leal, he seeks to clarify not only the part of the execution of works and his re-election in the highest position of the UNAD.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that is going to take legal action for affecting the reputation of the university and its nameas it has done legally on several occasions, as he expressed, whose rulings have come out in favor.
Finally, the Transparency Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic is carrying out a process so that the National Open and Distance University be investigated by control entities such as the Prosecutor’s Office, the Comptroller’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office.
See the UNAD press conference clarifying alleged irregularities
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