NDC urges OSP, PAC to probe A-G’s report on COVID-19 expenditure

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has appealed to Office of the Special Prosecutor and Public Accounts Committee of parliament to thoroughly investigate persons implicated in the Auditor General’s report on COVID-19 expenditure.

The NDC is also pushing for public hearing on the matter.

They accused President Akufo-Addo led government of recklessly spending Covid-19 funds to the detriment of the state.

Communication officer of the party, Sammy Gemfi addressing the media at the NDC’s Headquarters called President Akufo-Addo to emulate the Malawi President on how he is dealing with government officials caught embezzling covid fund.

“Unlike President Akufo-Addo who has proven to be the Chief Corruption Clearing Agent, the whole world witnessed how the Malawian President, Lazarus Chakwera, cracked the whip on officials of his government who were found to have misused COVID-19 funds.

"The Malawian President is on record to have fired his Labour Minister, Ken Kandodo together with nineteen (19) other Officials. Friends, Kandodo’s crime was that he used less than $800 of the COVID-19 fund on allowances for a trip to South Africa in the company of the President.

"This is what decisive leadership is all about, but alas, here in Ghana, officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government receive promotion and patting at the back for engaging in acts of stealing of public funds.

“The NDC calls on the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) to expedite its public hearings on this Special Audit Report into COVID-19 expenditures. This hearing should be televised live for the Ghanaian public to follow and be apprised of how their government expended COVID-19 funds.

“We further urge Parliament to compel the Auditor-General to exercise his power of surcharge and disallowance to retrieve all COVID-19 funds that have been misapplied or misused through various infractions and veritable acts of criminality.”

The NDC also urged individual bondholder to resist domestic debt exchange program because government is solely responsible for the current economic mess.