John Dramani Mahama, a former president, has claimed that the government merely misappropriated funds intended for the fight against COVID-19.
The issues the nation is currently facing, according to Mr. Mahama, are the result of the government's reckless use of financial resources, especially during the 2020 election season.
"Imprudent election-related spending and careless economic management decisions are to blame for the current economic crisis.
"This also discusses how the Covid windfall was used. Covid was a hardship, yet with hardship came opportunity. Due to the funding from Covid international institutions, we simply misappropriated additional funds from the Bank of Ghana.
The National Democratic Congress (NDCcandidate )'s for president in 2020 stated, "That money would have eased this crisis that we are going through," while speaking on Thursday, June 30 at a discussion on the economy in Accra.
According to Ken Ofori-Atta, the minister of finance, the government used Covid-19 funds wisely to help protect lives and preserve employment.
Every dollar raised, according to Mr. Ofori-Atta, was wisely used to strengthen the nation's capacity to contain the pandemic.
He said that the epidemic was the worst shock to the economy to date, which is why the nation decided to use all of its resources to attempt to limit its consequences on people's lives and companies.
In response to inquiries about how money raised to help in the COVID-19 fight was used, the minister stated it was false that the government was avoiding responsibility. "Mr. Speaker, I think this presentation reflects the government's dedication to transparency and accountability. All monies that were allocated, mobilised, and used have been fully reported on. As a government, we continue to maintain an open-door policy and appreciate every chance to work for the good of the country," he added.
He said that GH18.19 billion in resources were mobilised, while GH12.04 billion was squandered.
He said the sum of money used to stop the COVID-19 pandemic's spread and lessen its negative impacts on people's lives and property.
According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, the money was spent between April 2020, when the virus hit the nation, and May of this year.
He also dispelled worries that the COVID-19 spending were inconsistent, saying that everything that was mobilised and spent was properly documented and accounted for.
The minister was responding to inquiries about the country's resource mobilisation and real spending for the epidemic.
"I desire to debunk the perception that there have been some anomalies in government statistics on COVID-19," he said, adding that the records at the ministry matched the expenditure figures that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had included in his earlier presentation to the country.
In order to safeguard lives and lessen the consequences of the epidemic on the economy, he advised the public to ignore rumours about data errors.