The Ministry of Finance has pledged to the public of its effort and commitment to address all issues raised in the report on the audit of the government’s Covid-19 expenditure by the Auditor-General.
The report exposed some irregularities in government’s expenditure for Covid-19 from March 2020 to June 2022.
Some of the corrupt practices that were uncovered include; paying a total of US$607,419.02 out of US$4,049,460.12 for the purchase of 26 ambulances that were never delivered, paying unapproved GH ₵151,500 by the Information Ministry to its own staff as Covid insurance, and the payment of $80 million worth of vaccines by the government that was never delivered, amongst others.
The Ministry of Finance in its response to the report communicated, issued a statement on Wednesday, 25th January, 2023 that the findings give government an opportunity to implement the recommendations made by the Auditor-General.
“The Ministry welcomes the Auditor General’s report and wishes to assure the public that, steps are being taken to address all issues.”
Ministry of Finance
It also indicated that some interventions are presently being pursued through meetings with the implementing agencies, to engage in conversations and evaluate the requisite steps taken to implement the audit recommendations in the report.
“Preparation of an Emergency Expenditure Management Guideline is being considered. This guideline will provide government with administrative protocols in times of emergency such as the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure compliance with relevant PFM regulations while providing timely responses.”
Ministry of Finance
The statement reassured that government will continue to use its established budgetary and accountability course of actions to enforce and enhance expenditure management in order to ensure proper utilization of tax revenue to the full benefit of citizens.
Clarifications
Providing some background and interpretations, the Finance Ministry said the audit report confirms total resources mobilized for the Covid-19 response over the period of March 2020 to June 2022 at ¢21,844,189,185.24.
“As indicated on page 7, paragraph 18 of the report, the funds mobilized were to address the following two key interventions: – finance direct Covid-19 intervention expenditures; and support the funding gap in the budget which was occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on revenue mobilization.
“As reported on page 11, paragraph 31 of the report, the 53.8% and 46.2% spent on direct Covid-19 interventions and for general budget support respectively were consistent with the mandate approved by Parliament”.
Ministry Of Finance
In accordance with the Public Financial Management Act, the Ministry of Finance said it coordinated the mobilization and disbursement of funds for the Covid-19 responses by government, to ensure timely release of funds to save lives, livelihoods, and property.
Auditor General Report
Speaking on Covid-19 budget related issues, It can be recalled that on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed that data collected as of May 2022, an amount of over GHc18 billion was raised to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.
However, an audit of Ghana’s COVID-19 expenditure by the Auditor General’s Department showed that Ghana raised nearly GHc 22 billion as of June 2022 to fight COVID-19.
According to the AG’s report, the government raised GHc21.84 billion through the Contingency Fund, the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Union (EU), and the sale of BOG-COVID-19 Bonds for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 fiscal years.
Not limited to that, Ken Ofori-Atta also revealed that government had spent about GHc12.04 billion of the GHc18.19 billion raised to contain the spread and mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on lives and properties.
But the audit report showed that out of the total amount raised to fight COVID-19, only GHc11.75 billion was used for activities geared towards fighting the spread of the virus and its impact in Ghana.
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