According to the Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson, the media must hold the government accountable for huge financial resources entrusted into its hands during this COVID-19 period.
He said, "unprecedented levels of profligacy, waste and corruption Ghanaians have witnessed under the Akufo-Addo government in the last three and a half years."
In April 2020, the Finance Committee of Parliament approved an amount of GH¢1.2 billion for the government to access money from the Contingency Fund to finance the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP).
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta presented to Parliament, the policy document on CAP, seeking approval to spend GH¢1.2 billion.
This follows demands by the Minority for government to provide details of funding of the money requested by the Minister to tackle coronavirus and its impact on the economy.
According to Ken Ofori Atta, GH¢280 million will go into food packages and hot meals while GH¢40 million to the National Buffer Stock Company.
An additional GH¢200 million will be used to cater for bills on water and sanitation, GH¢241 will cover tax waiver for health personnel.
Explaining further, he said GH¢80 million will be spent on the allowance for health staff, ¢2 million will be used to cover transportation for health workers GH¢600 million will be disbursed as soft loans to businesses.
However, the NDC at its maiden edition of a weekly press briefing addressed by Ato Forson said even though the lockdown, which was imposed on Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Greater Kumasi lasted for three weeks, and ended over a month ago, the government has not provided any information to either Parliament or the general public on how the funds were utilised.
He stated: "The low coverage and haphazard implementation of these interventions during the lockdown period, specifically the distribution of free hot meals and dry food to the vulnerable, as well as the supply of tankers of water to deprived households, give us cause for concern that these funds were not judiciously utilised by the government.
"Indeed, we have in our possession, an audio recording from Kumasi based Silva FM, in which Market women at Tafo Pankrono have confirmed that eggs meant for the vulnerable under the CAP have been diverted and sold on the market by persons associated with certain government functionaries in the area.
"Indeed, Governor of the Bank of Ghana has confirmed that the first tranche of GH₵5.5 billion has already been advanced to the government in clear violation of the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612) and the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921)."