Bi-partisan committee should probe how $560m World Bank cash for COVID-19 was spent - Minority
The Minority in Parliament has called for the setting up of a bi-partisan committee to probe how the government spent the $560 million the World Bank gave to Ghana to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The Minority said the government had not been transparent in disclosing how it utilised the amount to curb the spread of the viral disease in Ghana from April 2020 till date.
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The Minority made the call at a press conference in Parliament Tuesday afternoon [February 8, 2022].
The press conference was addressed by the Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh.
Read also: COVID-19 expenditure: Minority calls for bi-partisan probe
In relation to that the Minority in Parliament has filed a private member’s motion for Parliament to constitute a bi-partisan committee to investigate how the government spent $560 million it received from the World Bank to fight the spread of COVID-19.
It stated that last week, the World Bank Country Director, Mr Pierre Frank Laporte, revealed that Ghana had been given not less than $560 million to fight the pandemic.
It quoted Mr Laporte as disclosing that the group first gave about $430 million and an additional $130 million to purchase vaccines to fight the pandemic and sensitise the citizenry to COVID-19 safety protocols.
“It is one of the reasons why we think that the receipt and the expenditure on COVID-19 has not been transparent but very opaque,” it said.
Transparency
Addressing the press in Parliament Tuesday, the Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Mr Kwabena Akandoh, said:
“There should be a bi-partisan probe into the entire receipt and expenditure on COVID-19 so that we bring this issue to its logical conclusion.
“There is one thing indicating what you have received and properly accounting for what you have received and we think there has not been a proper accountability with regard to the pandemic,” he said.
Mr Akandoh, who is the Member of Parliament for Juaboso, said the move by the Minority had been triggered by reports on how the government expended about GH¢32 million on meetings and another GH¢600 million on Agenda 111 in 2020 even before the grounds were broken for the construction of the projects.
“These are serious issues that we think we must look into and if what the World Bank Country Director said is anything to go by, then we have a serious problem at hand.
“This is because the money received so far does not tally with what has been indicated by the Country Director of the World Bank,” he said.
Revelation
Last week, the World Bank Country Director disclosed that the bank supported the country with $560 million to purchase vaccines and bolster campaigns and projects to sensitise Ghanaians to COVID-19 safety protocols, equipping laboratories and medical facilities to receive patients.
He explained that the World Bank also embarked on other projects to support the Ghanaian economy in the SME and tourism sectors.
He said there were plans of disbursing an additional sum of $60 million which would go directly to support vaccine purchases and treatment centres.