NDC Petitions Auditor General over Government’s Covid-19 Expenditures

The Minority in Ghana’s Parliament has officially petitioned the Auditor General’s Department to conduct a special audit into the ¢280.3 million purportedly earmarked by government for relief items during the lockdown period.

In the petition to the Auditor-General jointly signed by the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka and the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson on June 3, 2020, the Minority said the audit, is pertinent to clear the allegations surrounding government’s expenditure during the lockdown period.

The Minority among other things are calling for a special audit into expenditure on:

• The amount of GHS40million, which was allocated for the procurement and distribution of food packages and hot meals to vulnerable groups in lockdown areas.
• The amount of GHS40.3 million, which was allocated to the Ghana National Buffer Stock Company for the procurement and distribution of dry food to the vulnerable groups in lockdown.
• The amount of GHS200 million, allocated for the provision of water and sanitation especially the amount spent on the supply of water takers to deprived in communities.

READ ALSO:
The New Voters’ Registration Exercise will never happen - Kwame Zu

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta on April 8, presented the policy document on Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP), seeking approval to spend ¢1.2 billion, to cushion Ghanaians from the socio-economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic.

The breakdown of the GHS1.2 billion included an allocation of GHS40 million for the provision of food packages and hot meals and an allocation of GHS40 million to the Ghana Buffer Stock Company for the provision of dry food to support vulnerable communities in lockdown areas.

A further GHS200 million was allocated for the provision of water and sanitation, including the mobilisation of all publicly and privately owned water tankers to ensure the supply of water to all vulnerable communities. All three allocations amounted to GHS280.3 million.

But the Minority stresses that it has almost been a month after the lockdown and the Akufo-Addo-led government has failed to furnish the nation with the expenditure of the funds.

They further accused the functionaries of the incumbent government of misappropriating the funds meant for the vulnerable.

“The low coverage and haphazard implementation of the distribution of free meals and dry foods to the vulnerable groups, as well as the supply of water to deprived communities, gives us cause for concern that the funds were not utilized judiciously by the government.”