Minority’s call for audit of COVID-19 lockdown expenditure premature – Oppong Nkrumah
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has described the Minority’s petition to the Auditor-General for a special audit into the GHS280.3 million that was allocated by the government for the provision of food, water, and sanitation under the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) as premature.
According to him, the call is also part of the Minority’s attempt to distract the government.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah reminded that the accounts for the 2020 financial year were “nowhere near completion.”
“For anybody who has done basic accounting and auditing, the financial year usually will have to end and the one who is executing the task will prepare the account and then the auditor will come and audit.”
Thus he said “it will be prudent for all these exercises to be completed for the accounts to be put together” before a standard audit.
“Within that context, I think we can all understand how premature this call for special audit when the programme has not even ended… it is becoming increasingly clear that our colleagues in the Minority always look for an opportunity to raise some controversy in the hope to distract us from the COVID-19 Response Programme itself but we will not be distracted.”
Why Minority is calling for special audit
The Minority on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, invoked Section 16 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584), with a petition to the Auditor-General to undertake a Special Audit into the expenditure.
According to the Minority, the special audit will clear all doubts about how the funds were utilised.
The Minority says it had received evidence some of the items meant for the vulnerable were sold by persons in government.
“…we have in our possession, an audio recording from a Kumasi based Silva FM station, in which Market women at Tafo Pankrono have confirmed that eggs meant for distribution to vulnerable groups under the CAP have been diverted and sold on the mark by persons associated with government functionaries in the area,” the Minority said in the petition.
Background
The Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, presented to the Finance Committee of Parliament the government’s Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) in which he indicated that the government was going to spend GHS1.2 billion to cushion Ghanaians against the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus 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.
Source: Citi
