Auditing the Auditor-General: How special audit understated a COVID-19 expenditure

Following a multi-year investigation, it has been discovered that the Auditor-General's special audit of Ghana's COVID-19 expenditure significantly underestimated the cost of a major fumigation initiative undertaken by various ministries. The audit, conducted in late 2022, understated the expenditure by hundreds of millions of cedis.

The special audit was requested by then Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in July 2022, who is now facing corruption charges in the United States. The audit report, dated December 30, 2022, revealed that Ghana sourced GH¢21.8 billion from various international sources to finance the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme and Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan.

However, the investigation uncovered that the Auditor-General's special audit significantly understated the cost of fumigation exercises, which were a major intervention in Ghana's fight against COVID-19. The audit reported the cost of fumigation as GHS 96 million, while evidence gathered by the investigation suggests that the actual expenditure was at least GHS 780 million, representing only about 12% of the total.

This understatement is attributed to the omission of the costs incurred by multiple ministries, including the Education, Transport, and Local Government ministries. The investigation found that Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a company previously indicted in corruption probes, received the majority of the fumigation expenditure, with approximately GHS 775 million (99.4%) of the total going to the company.

The Auditor-General had previously described Zoomlion as a "fraudulent drain on the country" due to its involvement in corruption scandals. The investigation also revealed that Zoomlion had multiple fumigation contracts across Ghana, which could have been redirected to combat the pandemic more effectively.