In Ghana, calls made to explain missing data on COVID-19 spending
In Ghana, Deputy Chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee Davis Ansah Opoku called on the Auditor-General to explain why spending by the ministries of local government and transport related to COVID-19 was not clearly reflected in a special audit report.
The Mpraeso MP reacted to the findings of an investigation by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, presented on PM Express on Joy News. As MyJoyOnline reports, the investigation raised questions about how disinfection expenditures were reflected in the report.
Discrepancy in amounts
According to the investigation, the Ministry of Local Government spent 299 million Ghanaian cedis on disinfection. At the same time, the special audit report put total spending on such work at 96.3 million Ghanaian cedis. Awuni also stated that the Audit Service had confirmed that it audited the ministry’s expenditure, including spending on disinfection.
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Ansah Opoku noted that the amount of 96.3 million Ghanaian cedis concerned a separate Ghana Education Service activity and had been included in the report. At the same time, he acknowledged that the document did not contain sufficient explanations regarding some of the expenditure highlighted by the journalist, including spending by the ministries of local government and transport.
Call to provide data
The parliamentarian rejected calls for arrests based on the published findings. According to him, the Auditor-General does not necessarily include all audited expenditure in the report, especially if no violations were found during the audit.
In Ansah Opoku’s view, it is first necessary to clarify with the Auditor-General and the Audit Service why the report does not provide data on the two ministries. He called for the relevant amounts to be provided for further verification.
