Gov’t doles US$20 mil for National Cathedral, Struggles With US$10- million Coronavirus Bill

The Akufo Administration has come under fire for allegedly deceiving Ghanaians that it has allocated US$100 million to fight the deadly coronavirus, because the amount has neither been budgeted nor has the Finance Minister made any formal request to the Ghanaian Parliament to access the Ghanaian Contingency Fund for the amount.

On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, the Finance Minister was questioned in Parliament about the said US$100 million but a confused Ken Ofori-Atta could not place his hands on exactly where the money would be coming from.

In one instance, he said the funding “…may include withdrawal from the Ghana Stabilisation Fund”, or from either the Bretton Woods Institutions (World Bank and the IMF) or from “other multilateral and bilateral partners on potential assistance.”

However, the Finance Minister air of uncertainty in Parliament contradicts the President’s emphatic statement during his Coronavirus address to the nation a few days ago. He said:  “At my prompting, the Minister for Finance has made available the cedi equivalent of $100 million to enhance our coronavirus preparedness and response plan.”

The confusion even gets deeper when the Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in an interview with Joy FM, a day ago said: “The money is coming from a combination of the central government of Ghana resource allocation from the Consolidated Funds and some donor support from some of our donor partners,” he said.

Critics have cited the questionable situation as a demonstration of the government paying mere lip-service to allocate resources to tackling the global pandemic that has caught Ghana in its grips.

Some have juxtaposed the current confusion over funds for fighting Covid-19 against the relative ease to which the Akufo Addo administration agreed to part with over US$ 30 million for the construction of the contentious National Cathedral.

James Klutse Avedzi, a member of the Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) questions the Finance Minister on a number of points to verify the truth around the controversial US$100 million. He asks: “Why has the Minister not brought any request to Parliament for approval to use the money in the money in the Contingency Fund to fight the Coronavirus?”

In a statement released today, he asked some more questions: “Has the Minister of Finance based on the Article 177 of the Constitution made provision in the 2020 Budget for Contingency Fund? If the answer is yes, how much is currently the amount in the Contingency Fund?

Ghana’s Coronavirus fund has been widely reported among international media because of its hefty value. However, it appears the fund still remains a phantom until donor partners actually agree to part with some cash for Ghana.