The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has directed the Finance Committee with help from the Health Committee to scrutinize Government’s COVID-19 expenditure as was presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
After spirited contributions by Members, the Speaker said the constitution provides for the House to look into the use of money drawn from the Consolidated Fund.
He commended the nation for a united fight against COVID-19.
Mr. Bagbin’s order followed the presentation to the House by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta on the expenditure made by Government on Covid-19.
Commenting on the Minister’s statement, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Cassiel Ato Forson, said although the Minister seems to have given a detailed explanation, he failed to disclose what the Covid-19 Trust Fund was used for.
The MP for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah, said beyond the Minister, giving a concise breakdown on the expenditure, the Auditor General would look into it at the various MMDAs and beneficiary institutions to make sure the State was not short-changed.
For his part, the Minority Leader, Haruna Idrissu, called for an ADHOC Committee to look into the nitty-gritty of the monies captured in the minister’s breakdown.
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, disagreed with his colleagues and stressed that the House has enough Committees to investigate the Financial Statement by the Minister and so there was no need for the Speaker to set up an Adhoc Committee.
The Speaker tasked the Committee on Finance to present its findings in October as the House is expected to go on recess next month, and the Committee would need ample time to do its work.
