Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta says all programmed, mobilised and utilised funds pertaining to the Covid-19 had been dully reported in line with government’s commitment to accountability and transparency.
According to him, the public should not pay attention to the lies being preached by members from the opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, he said "All programmed, mobilised and utilised funds pertaining to the coronavirus pandemic had been dully reported in line with government’s commitment to accountability and transparency"
"Government was transparent on its expenditure items and would continue to operate an open-door policy, while welcoming any opportunity to engage to in the national interest"
“Mr. Speaker, at this juncture, I wish to dispel the notion that there have been inconsistencies in government data on COVID-19. His Excellency, the President intimated during the State of the Nation Address on March 30, 2022, that we had mobilised about Gh¢17.7 billion since 2020 to fight the pandemic."
“We have subsequently reconciled the data and I can report that, as of end of May, 2022, we have mobilised GH¢18.19 billion to mitigate the effect of the pandemic. Again, when His Excellency the Vice President indicated on April 7, 2022 at the National TESCON Conference that Government had spent Gh¢8.1 billion on Covid-19, it was within the context of expenditures for 2020 as I have already indicated,”
Touching on disbursement, Ken Ofori-Atta revealed that out of the Gh¢18.19 billion expended to mitigate the effect of the pandemic, GH¢1,550 million was disbursed under the Support to Households Programme, and GH¢1,049 million was allocated to health response-supplies equipment and relief for health workers.
He further explained that GH¢600 million was also released to begin the construction across the country.
The Finance Minister also disclosed that an additional GH¢763.92 million had been released to continue the construction of the 111 district hospitals.
He stressed that government also programmed a total amount of GH¢875 million for security operations, evacuation of Ghanaians stranded abroad and coordination of MMDAs’ sanitation and disinfection exercises.
"In line with measures to stabilise the economy after the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, government had implemented programmes to revitalise the economy and protect jobs. This includes the GH¢600 million utilised under Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS) by the NBSSI, now the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA),”
Hitting on vaccine procurement, Mr. Ofori-Atta noted that GH¢929.30 million had been allocated, explaining that “a total amount of GH¢775.82 million was released for the purchase of Sputnik V, the Janssen COV SARS 2 Covid Vaccines and the Emergency deployment of vaccines in schools among other key disbursement by government”.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith