By Boakye Stephen, Kumasi, Ghana | Reporting for Ghanaian News Canada
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Vice Chairman, Davis Ansah Opoku, says there is currently no basis for arrests over questions surrounding COVID-19 fumigation expenditure.
His comments come amid controversy over an Auditor-General’s special audit which reportedly identified about GH¢96.3 million in fumigation-related spending, while documents from government ministries point to significantly higher expenditure.
An investigation by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni identified spending from the Ministries of Education, Local Government and Transport that could push the total to more than GH¢780 million.
Mr Ansah Opoku said the immediate responsibility of the Audit Service is to explain why some expenditure, particularly from Local Government and Transport, was not clearly reflected in the report.
“But this does not call for arrest, like just like what my senior Rockson sought to create that impression. I mean, we do not need to arrest people at this point.”
He said Parliament must first establish what the reported figures represent and why other expenditure was apparently excluded.
“And so, what we need to find out from the Auditor-General, and from the Audit Service, is why you omitted that of Local Government and that of Transport? What are the figures? Present them to us, and we will audit.”
The PAC Vice Chairman also explained that the GH¢96.3 million figure related to a specific Ghana Education Service activity and should not automatically be treated as the total national expenditure on fumigation.
The controversy follows the 2022 special audit of COVID-19 expenditure, with questions now focused on the scope of the audit and how its findings were presented to Parliament.
MAIN QUOTE
“We do not need to arrest people at this point.”
COMMENTARY
The emerging disagreement is largely about what the reported GH¢96.3 million figure represents and why other expenditure does not appear to have been clearly captured.
While Dafeamekpor has called for arrests if deliberate concealment is proven, Davis Ansah Opoku is urging the Audit Service to first reconcile the figures and provide Parliament with a clear explanation.
