The Speaker's request for an investigation of the government's Covid-19 expenditure, according to the chairman of the parliamentary finance committee, won't produce any meaningful results.
According to Kwaku Kwarteng, the Speaker's decision was intended to further a local interest.
On June 23, he asserted that no legal issues will be found when appearing on JoyNews' AM Show.
In light of the "many" inconsistencies the Auditor-General has found in its reports during the time, the MP from Obuasi West encouraged Parliament to concentrate on finding a swift solution to them.
I firmly think that Wednesday, June 22,'s events were intended to fulfil a political demand and that no public finance accounting would ever result from them.
"I'm concerned that if we start doing this, the focus will be diverted from where the conversation should be." the various anomalies that the Auditor-General finds in these accounts, many of which have been a long-standing issue for decades.
"That's what we ought to be talking about,"
Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, stood before the parliament on Wednesday to respond to about 16 queries that were put to his ministry.
A thorough breakdown of the government's Covid-19 expenses since the outbreak in March 2020 was one of the queries.
Mr. Ofori-Atta refuted allegations that the government has not been open about its Covid-19 expenditures during his presentation.
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.
"Mr. Speaker, at this point, I want to refute the claim that Covid-19 government data has been inconsistent. On March 30, 2022, the President mentioned in his State of the Nation Address that we have raised around Gh17.7 billion since 2020 to combat the epidemic.
"We later harmonised the statistics, and I can now say that as of the end of May 2022, we had mobilised Gh18.19 billion to lessen the pandemic's impact.
The Minister said, "Once more, the Vice President's statement that the government had spent Gh8.1 billion on Covid-19 on April 7, 2022 at the National TESCON Conference was made in the context of expenditures for 2020, as I have previously mentioned.
The Minority in Parliament, however, did not like the answers given.
They said that President Akufo-estimates Addo's of the entire cost to handle the epidemic were inconsistent with those provided by the Finance Minister.
They demanded an investigation into the specifics of the Minister's presentation as a result.
The Speaker supported the Minority even though the Majority Caucus fiercely disagreed.
In order to assist clear up any "lingering questions" about the topic, according to Speaker Alban S.K. Bagbin, it was required.
He said that other organisations, including the Covid-19 Trust Fund, got some funding and independently distributed it.