‘We do not need to arrest people at this point’ – PAC Vice Chair on COVID-19 fumigation audit report

Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, Davis Ansah Opoku, maintains there is no justification for arrests regarding the alleged absence of COVID-19 fumigation costs from the Auditor-General's special audit at present. He emphasized that the immediate focus should be on the Audit Service explaining why the Ministry of Local Government and Transport's spending was not included in the report.

This stance comes after investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni's recent investigation revealing a discrepancy between the Auditor-General's reported GH¢96.3 million on COVID-19 fumigation and the Ministries of Education, Local Government, and Transport's documents, which indicate at least GH¢780 million spent on fumigation.

Opoku cautioned that the GH¢96.3 million figure should not be taken as the total COVID-19 fumigation expenditure, as it pertained to a specific Ghana Education Service activity and was captured in the report. He acknowledged that the audit report lacked detailed information on some expenditure areas. However, he dismissed calls for arrests based solely on the identified omissions.

Opoku stressed that the Auditor-General does not need to report every item audited if no misconduct is identified. He clarified that the Public Accounts Committee should first investigate why Local Government and Transport expenditure was omitted and determine the actual figures involved, requesting the Auditor-General and Audit Service to present these details.