APRIL 20

08
News
DAILY HERITAGE
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020
Editorial
Accountability from
COVID-19 Fund is too early
• READ FROM PAGE 5
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Corona Fund and
Public Accountability
- CCAG
Citizens for Change and Accountable
Governance (CCAG) are not satisfied
with the level of public accountability
and transparency in the management of
public funds meant to combat the novel
corona virus pandemic.
We are by this public release urging
Government of Ghana (GoG) to include
transparency and anti-corruption
measures in corona virus related emergency
relief programs (Corona virus Alleviation
Programme) to ensure that the
billions of cedis is reaching the very vulnerable
in our society.
During this life and death crisis period,
we believe people in powerful positions
can take advantage of the
situation.
Corruption drains on public resources
and always troubles government’s
ability to provide adequate health
care, education and other rights.
The table below gives details of the
Republic of Ghana’s COVID-19 Fund
or income:
1. Contingency Fund (from the
Ghana Stabilization Fund) = $200million
2. World Bank = $100million
3. IMF = $1billion
4. National COVID-19 Trust =
5. Private Sector COVID-19 =
6. Others
In the spirit of good governance, we
entreat Government to:
Fund Transparency: The Information
Ministry or Ministry of Health should
publish ALL information related to
COVID-19 funds on its websites.
Procurement: To mitigate risks such
as hidden contracts, overpricing etc.
publish all COVID-19 Contracts; limit
the use of emergency non-competitive
processes; publish the names and beneficial
ownership information of companies
awarded contracts.
Auditing/Independent Monitors:
Government should commit to make all
information on how emergency relief or
alleviation funds are spent available to
internal auditors and, as soon as practicable
to independent auditors. Priority
should be given to critical areas such as
health, public procurement, infrastructure
and social expenditures.
CCAG is admonishing any Government
official who dares to embezzle
money from the COVID-19 aid fund,
will be made to face the full rigors of the
law.
If there is a time to be transparent as
government, then it is now.
We demand a special attention, transparency
and accountability in the management
of Ghana’s Corona virus
Fund.,"
…………Signed…………
Kofi Asante Mensah
Executive Director
0244690262
0302965325
Statement No:
CCAG/2020/0418/0298
Issued Date: April 18, 2020
Give live updates of Covid-19
Fund to Ghanaians
• READ FROM PAGE 6
• ILAPI Ghana to Prez
fund. In terms of disbursement, the
details of recipients either by their associations
or industrial matrices must
be made available and accessible by
the general public and the donors as
well.
"This is not to demean any beneficiary
but rather to enhance accountability,
integrity and transparency on
the fund," he stated.
The researcher said the general
policies and procedures of the fund
must be well-defined and devoid of
any vagueness, nepotism, favoritism
and partisanship allocations of the
fund.
"Even though we acknowledge the
President has verbally indicated on a
lighter note how businesses can access
the fund through their respective associations,
that information is not
enough as we have seen in the cases
of subsidized electricity and water
bills and food sharing announcement."
The economist said the truth must
be told, at the least opportunity,
about the state’s resource distribution
concerning "who gets what, when and
how".
"Clearly, if the policies and procedures
are not clearly defined by the
President or the board of the fund,
the fund will only cushion businesses
affiliated to the party in power and
not for other businesses," he indicated.
Mr Yalley said the procedure for
disbursement from the fund for management
expenses by the board of the
fund must be made public to avoid
over usage of the fund for unintended
purposes, adding that this lack
of comprehensiveness of policies and
procedures of the Covid-19 Fund
would defeat the objective of the
fund.
The President of ILAPI, Mr Peter
Bismark Kwofie, said the question of
when an application could be sent to
the fund by businesses must be disclosed
by the President to the general
public.
Mr Kwofie said these times are a
critical moment for the survival of
many businesses because the 'when' is
very critical for all the businesses.
He added that "should it be after
Covid-19 or during or what? This is
because some businesses are currently
struggling to contain cost of operations
and payroll cost and need to be
cushioned immediately to ease the
losses of business and employment.
"So when can these businesses or
persons apply for the fund and by
what means must all be addressed
quickly?"
Mr Kwofie said it was important
also to address how the Covid-19
fund would be dissolved: whether
after the Covid-19 or when the fund
becomes totally insolvent to meet requests
of businesses and also by what
procedure
The president of ILAPI questioned
when and how the balance on
the Covid-19 fund or its assets or liabilities
would be cleared, stating that
issues of such nature must be addressed
to the general public to avoid
any form of misapplication of hard
earned resources of individuals and
corporate institutions.
He said donors were supporting
the government effort in the fight
against the deadly disease, so the government
must do the best that it
could to continue to win the trust of
donors for a similar help in the future.
"This will improve the credibility
of the government against the public
notion about governments when it
comes to public fund management,"
Mr Kowfie stated.
Meanwhile in a related development,
a group calling itself Citizens
for Change and Accountable Governance
(CCAG) has also expressed dissatisfaction
with the level of public
accountability and transparency in the
management of public funds meant
to combat the novel Coronavirus pandemic
and published a release to that
effect.
"We are by this public release urging
the government of Ghana to include
transparency and
anti-corruption measures in Covid-19
related emergency relief programmes
(Coronavirus Alleviation Programme)
to ensure that the billions of
cedis is reaching the very vulnerable in
our society."