The Ministry of Health (MoH) entered into a 25-year finance lease agreement in 2020 totalling GHS15,265,000.00 for the use of a building as a COVID-19 isolation centre at Adaklu in the Volta Region, which was never used.
According to the Auditor General’s report, the building was never used for its intended purpose.
The report covering March 2020 to June 2022 noted that the Ministry did not use the building for its intended purpose, but instead, carried out works on the building, including remodelling, at an additional cost of GHS GHS20,382,247.70.
The report said: “We observed that the Ministry of Health entered into a 25-year Finance Lease Agreement with QHC Project Limited at a total lease value of GH¢15,265,000.00 in April 2020.
“The underlying assets were uncompleted buildings in Adaklu in the Volta Region which were managed by QHC Project Ltd.”
Also, “The buildings were to be used as isolation centres during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We noted that the Ministry could not use the facility for the intended purpose and is, therefore, remodelling the building at an additional cost of GHS20,382,247.70 out of which GHS13,726,079.86 had been paid.”
The report indicated that the remodelling works on the building due to the Ministry’s inability to use it for its intended purpose had stalled.
“Our review of the finance lease process indicated that the lease amount was paid to the lessor without recourse to the Minister of Finance and financial assessment by the Debt Management Unit.
“During our visit to the facility in November 2022, we observed that the remodelling being undertaking by ADB Ghana Ltd. (contractor) had not been completed and the works include remodelling and equipping the existing buildings to be used as holding, treatment and isolation centres,” the report noted.
Source: classfmonline.com