COVID-19 Trust Fund currently under audit – Sophia Akuffo

• The COVID-19 Fund Trust is currently audit, its Chairperson, Sophia Akuffo has said

• Chief of Staff in January 2021 said an of amount GH¢57.15 million had been generated from cash donations and items

• The Fund was set up 2020 to cushion government and individuals worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic

Chairperson of the Ghana COVID-19 Trust Fund, Sophia Akuffo, has disclosed that its accounts and items accrued are currently under audit.

According to her, the Ghanaian public will in due course be furnished with a comprehensive report by the Acting Auditor General on the activities of the Trust Fund.

“Our accounts are being audited by the Audit Service as I speak. We have been in existence for a year now and in due time the report of the Auditor will be published,” she revealed.

Madam Akuffo however slammed critics over what she described as negative media reports about the activities of the Fund and its trustees. She pointed that it was unfair for a section of Ghanaians to assert that the fund’s trustees and staff were diverting monies received, despite little knowledge about its activities.

“We at the trust fund appreciate and are ready to render accounts for our stewardship at any point in time when it becomes necessary to do so. Therefore, I consider it rather unfair and very embarrassing when some sections of the public and in the media, whether due to political expediency or ignorance about the nature of our mandate or simply out of sheer mischief, attempt to throw mud and malign the trustees and staff of the fund,” the former chief justice expressed.

President Akufo Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo following the on-set of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020 announced the setting up of the COVID-19 Trust Fund to cushion government and persons who were worst hit by the pandemic.

This however encouraged a host of Ghanaians, institutions and philanthropists to make donations in cash and kind towards supporting persons hit adversely by the pandemic.

Chief of Staff, Madam Frema Osei Opare in January 2021 revealed an amount of GH¢57.15 million had been generated so far through cash and item donations.