¢10bn of Covid-19 funds was spent on ‘budget support’ – Auditor-General’s report

The Auditor-General has disclosed that the government spent ¢10 billion of monies mobilised for Covid-19 activities on budget support.

According to the A-G, a total of ¢21,844,189,185.24 was mobilised for the fight against the pandemic.

However, out of this amount, only ¢11,750,683,059.11 was spent on curbing the spread of the virus.

The A-G said the rest, per its records, was used for budget support.

“Out of ¢21,844,189,185.24 mobilised, ¢11,750,683,059.11 was spent on Covid-19 activities and the rest on budget support.

“On Covid-19 activities, we noted that ¢8,658,496,124.96 was spent in 2020, ¢3,084,311,725.45 in 2021, and ¢7,875,208.70 in 2022 to mitigate the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Ghana,” excerpt of the report said.

In the same report, the Auditor-General reported that $80m worth of vaccines paid for by government has not been delivered.

According to the A-G, government paid over $120m to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) but only $38m worth was delivered.

The Auditor-General has thus recommended to the Chief Director of the Health Ministry to renegotiate and recover the outstanding balance.

This, according to the A-G must be done immediately to ensure the amount is recovered to the state.

“We noted that the Ministry of Health on behalf of the government of Ghana paid an amount of US$120,192,379.80 to UNICEF/AVAT for the supply of vaccines.

“However, 5,109,600.00 doses of vaccines valued at US$38,322,000.00 were supplied to the National Cold Room leaving a difference of US$81,870,379.00 with UNICEF/AVAT.

“We recommend that the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health should renegotiate with UNICEF/AVAT recover the outstanding amount,” he said.

Source:www.myjoyonline.com