John Kumah, the deputy finance minister, claims that Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, is not avoiding accounting for the Covid-19 expense.
He said that the Finance Minister had disclosed everything regarding the use of the Covid-19 monies during his Wednesday, June 22, statement to Parliament and that nothing was being held back.
Claims that the government has not been open about its Covid-19 expenditures were previously refuted by the finance minister.
According to him, all monies that have been allocated, mobilised, and used to address the coronavirus pandemic have been properly disclosed in accordance with the government's commitment to accountability and openness.
According to Ken Ofori-Atta, Covid-19 has already cost a total of 12.04 billion.
He had, however, left out money from the National Covid-19 Trust in his statement to Parliament. Speaking on PM Express, John Kumah clarified that, contrary to what some members of the Minority side had said, the Minister's removal of those monies from his report to Parliament did not violate the law.
He clarified that the reason such money were excluded was because they did not pass through the Consolidated Fund and, as a result, were not appropriated or allocated by the Finance Minister.
"There is no contradiction between what the Minister said and what the Constitution stipulates, particularly when it comes to the Consolidated Fund. I'm accounting for money that have arrived via the Consolidated fund, the Minister is now claiming," he said.
He said that the board of trustees in charge of the accounts the monies were directed to were in charge of keeping records for those funds.
"That is managed by a board of trustees through several accounts. The Finance Minister can distribute or disperse the monies without going through the consolidated finances. It is not necessary to go via the Finance Minister if you have established a fund with a board of trustees who have a distinct system for collecting money and handling expenses.
He claims that I have left them out of this accounting of monies that I am performing. That is a full disclosure, thus I don't understand the challenge. That accounting may be performed by the trustees. And now the Speaker gave two committees—finance and health—directions to look into it and report back to us.
He stated, "It hasn't come via the consolidated fund channel, therefore it hasn't gone through his appropriation, so he isn't accounting for it.
"At this time, the Finance Ministry has not received any money to account for from the private Covid-19 funds. To enable the managers and trustees to come and provide an account of the funds they have received and spent, he said.