Auditor General has the powers to audit COVID-19 Trust Fund - Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has disclosed that the Auditor General has oversight powers to audit the COVID-19 Trust Fund created by the President.

According to him, once the fund is established by an Act of Parliament, the Auditor General will be vested with the powers to audit that account where the public donations will go into.

“The reason for which His Excellency the President asked for a public fund to be properly set up with an act of parliament is once that is done, the state is seized with all the necessary financial management requirements of that act and most importantly, audit,” Oppong Nkrumah said in an interview on Sunday, April 5.

“So, the Auditor General is now seized with the power to audit that account eventually when they are done with this particular [COVID-19 Trust Fund] programme,” he added.

Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah, however, is optimistic that the Audit Service and Auditor General will have the opportunity to audit the fund and Ghanaians can rest assured that an independent body will look into the fund and make a determination of all that has gone into the fund.

“Even if that audit falls short in a place or two, there will be a legal process of challenging that in a very transparent manner so we can all rest assured that it’s not going to be a private fund hiding somewhere that someone will use for a specific purpose. It will be a public audited exercise that will be conducted,” he assured.

Earlier, President Akufo Addo announced the creation of the COVID-19 Trust Fund intended to support the well-being of individuals who will be adversely affected by the novel Coronavirus pandemic in Ghana with three months of his salary as a seed fund support.

So far, an amount of GH¢8.75 million has been generated in public donations which also includes an amount of US$600,000, according to the President.

The COVID-19 Trust fund is being managed by an independent Board of Trustees and chaired by former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo.