President Nana Akufo-Addo has reiterated the fact that his government did not misuse COVID-19 funds that was set up to help the country meet some of the expenditures during the pandemic.
According to the President, it is critical that we do not lose the confidence of the people that a crisis that they were led to believe we were all in together was abused for personal gain.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament in 2020 had called for a probe in government’s spending on food and other relief packages under the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme.
The group fear that the ruling party may have channeled the funds into their campaign for the that year’s general elections.
The funds were subsequently audited by the Auditor-General.
In his State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Wednesday March 8, 2023, President Akufo-Addo thanked those who contributed their expertise, time and energy to the fight against COVID, and also thanked those who contributed to the COVID-19 fund.
He stressed that it is precisely because the economic fallout from the pandemic is so widespread and long lasting that it is important to show clearly that the COVID funds were not misused.
“Mr Speaker, it was Government that asked for the COVID funds to be audited, and I can assure this House that nothing dishonourable was done with the COVID funds. The responses from the Ministers for Health and Finance, on January 23 and 25, 2023, respectively, have sufficiently laid to rest the queries from the Auditor General’s report, and I believe any objective scrutiny of these statements from the Health and Finance Ministries would justify this conclusion.”
Source: Kasapafmonline.com/102.5FM
