ASEPA Asks OSP To Probe Application Of World Bank’s US$560m COVID Funds

The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to investigate the Ministry of Finance over its use of the $560million support that the World Bank has given Ghana to fund its Covid-19 relief programs.

In a letter signed by ASEPA’s Executive Director, Mensah Thompson, the CSO said it was concerned that the government has become cash-strapped and has imposed several taxes to raise money, blaming COVID-19 even though it has received such financial support from the World Bank.

In 2021, the government introduced several new taxes and increments in utility tariffs and its justification for the upward adjustment was that the free water and electricity relief that was given to Ghanaians during the 2020 COVID period needed to be paid pad for.

In its petition dated February 7, ASEPA asks the OSP to find out “whether the World Bank has asked the government to refund the support it granted it to implement such reliefs” and “why Ghanaians have been asked to pay back a relief which had been funded by money from the World Bank”.

ASEPA’s request results from revelation by the World Bank’s Country Director, Frank Pierre Laporte, that Ghana was given US$430million to fund COVID programs.

According to him, Ghana received an additional US$130million to purchase vaccines.

And yet, Ghana so far has vaccinated less than 17% of its population.

ASEPA said there was a “lack of transparency and accountability in the use of the Covid funds”.

Indeed, the government has blatantly snubbed demands by the Minority in Parliament to give an account of the usage of the COVID-19 funds.

It wants the OSP to “investigate how much the $130million World Bank support for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines was applied; probe how the Covid-19 relief loans under the Obatanpa Program was disbursed by the NBSSI.”

The anti-corruption CSO also wants a probe into the “$1billion given to the government by the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and the application of the proceeds from the Heritage funds which government applied in the fight against Covid-19.”