Government has described as premature the Minority’s petition to the Auditor-General to conduct a special audit into how the GH¢280.3 million allocated for relief items during the lockdown period was spent.
The National Democratic Congress Members of Parliament have alleged that, most of the food items meant for the poor were sold in the open market and the funds also diverted.
The petition, which was jointly signed by the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson and the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka said only a special audit will put the matters to rest.
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But in a rebuttal, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah said the programme is still ongoing, thus, it will be impossible for the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo to undertake an audit.
He is certain the petition is part of a grand scheme to distract the government in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Oppong-Nkrumah noted that the government is focused on delivering on its mandate to Ghanaians.
“It is increasingly becoming clear that, our colleagues in the Minority always look for an opportunity to raise some controversies in the hope to distract us from the COVID-19 response programme but we will not be distracted,” he added.