The Minority NDC Members of Parliament would start a public hearing to throw more light on the COVID-19 expenditure and the exposés contained in the latest Auditor General’s report.
The public hearing would be held IN conjunction with the Finance and Health Committees of Parliament.
The newly appointed Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson announced in his first press conference as the leader of the Minority Caucus on Thursday.
The tentative date for the public hearing to start is February 7, 2023, he told journalists.
“We also wish to assure the people of Ghana that as part of our engagements with Finance Committee and Health Committee we have agreed to do public hearing on the audit of the COVID expenditure, beginning on the 7th of February 2023
“At that point we will pay due diligence to the duties given to us as the people of Ghana.”
The Auditor-General’s report revealed some infractions in government’s expenditure for Covid-19 from March 2020 to June 2022.
Some of the infractions that were uncovered include; paying a total of US$607,419.02 out of US$4,049,460.12 for the purchase of 26 ambulances that were never delivered, paying unapproved GH ₵151,500 by the Information Ministry to its own staff as Covid insurance, and paying for $80 million worth of vaccines by the government that was never delivered, amongst others.
The Minority in Parliament in January of last year filed a motion for an inquiry into the expenditure made by the government since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The motion was admitted by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, but dismissed in February by the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu with explanation that such a bi-partisan committee is already provided for by the constitution via the office of the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee.
In a related development, the Minority NDC, Dr. Ato Forson said, would also embark on a road show to “galvanize the people of Ghana to educate them on the meaning of what economic crisis is going to take us through.”
The press conference comes just days after the NDC made changes to the leadership of the Minority Caucus in Parliament which brought Dr. Ato Forson in as the new Leader.
The shake-up left NDC Members of Parliament divided but Ato Forson said his first goal is to unite the caucus.