Covid-19: Auditor-General’s own audit objective raises questions over omission of Local Gov’t spending – Manasseh Awuni

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has raised questions over the Auditor-General's audit of COVID-19 expenditure, specifically regarding the omission of the Ministry of Local Government's fumigation spending. In an interview on Joy News' PM Express, Awuni revealed that he had contacted the Audit Service to determine whether the Ministry of Local Government's expenditure had been audited. The Audit Service confirmed that they had audited the ministry's expenditure, including fumigation spending.

The Auditor-General's special audit of COVID-19 expenditure reported GH¢96.3 million for fumigation. However, Awuni's investigation found that the Ministry of Local Government actually spent GH¢299 million on three phases of market fumigation between April and November 2020. The Ministry had submitted its fumigation expenditure to the Auditor-General during the audit, and Awuni was provided with an appendix listing all the ministries audited, which confirmed that the Local Government Ministry was indeed included.

Awuni specifically asked about the Local Government Ministry and fumigation, to which the Audit Service responded that the omission from the final report did not mean the expenditure had not been audited. This response raised further questions for Awuni, as the Auditor-General's report provided a specific figure for fumigation expenditure (GH¢96.3 million), while the Ministry had spent a significantly higher amount (GH¢299 million).

Awuni pointed out that the Audit Service's audit objectives included determining whether the financial records fairly represented COVID-19 receipts and expenditure, which encompassed both identifying wrongdoing and ensuring a fair representation of the nation's spending. Given the significant discrepancy between the reported and actual fumigation spending, Awuni questioned why the entire ministry's spending was left out of the reported fumigation expenditure.

He found the Audit Service's response unsatisfactory, as it did not adequately address the omission of the ministry's spending from the audit report.