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Claim: Edudzi Kudzo Tamakloe, the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s Director of Legal Affairs, claims that GH¢500 million from Ghana’s COVID-19 fund was spent outside the country’s financial management system, GIFMIS.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s investigations showed that the COVID-19 fund disbursed outside the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) was over GH¢543 million, not GH¢500 million. The Auditor-General’s report on Ghana’s COVID-19 expenditure revealed that the Finance Ministry captured GH¢543,058,709.13 on GIFMIS as an expenditure but disbursed it to service providers outside the platform.
Full Text
Edudzi Kudzo Tamakloe, a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s communication team, has alleged the Finance Ministry spent GH¢500 million of Ghana’s COVID-19 fund outside the country’s financial management system, GIFMIS.
The Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) is a customised financial management system that enables all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) in the country to manage and account for their expenditure.
The software was launched in 2010 to automate the budget preparation, execution, accounting, and reporting process of MDAs.
Again, the Auditor-General has noted that the platform promotes control of expenditure and accountability.
Mr Tamakloe told Accra-based Asempa FM on Sept. 04, 2024, that the Finance Ministry bypassed the platform to spend GH¢500 million of the country’s COVID-19 fund.
“Have you seen the Auditor-General’s report on COVID-19? If you read it, it showed us that 500 million cedis of COVID-19 money was spent outside GIFMIS. Who owns GIFMIS? Why do you think a Finance Minister will spend 500 million outside GIFMIS? Because the GIFMIS mechanism is for accountability,” he said in a mixed Twi and English dialect.
See minutes 2:20:08 to 2:21:20 for Mr Tamakloe’s comment during the video discussion posted on YouTube.
Data on the social media platform showed that, as of Sept. 04, 2024, the video discussion had recorded over 11,637 views.
DUBAWA decided to investigate the claim as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in West African countries.
Verification
DUBAWA’s research showed that the COVID-19 fund disbursed outside the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) was over GH¢543 million, not GH¢500 million.
The Auditor-General’s report on Ghana’s COVID-19 expenditures from March 2020 to June 2022 revealed that the Finance Ministry captured GH¢543,058,709.13 on GIFMIS as expenditures but disbursed it to service providers outside the platform.
See paragraph 32 of the Auditor-General’s report on the COVID-19 expenditure here.
Here is a screenshot of the Auditor-General’s report on Ghana’s COVID-19 fund
The Auditor-General said in paragraph 32 of its report that:
“We noted that a total amount of GH¢543,058,709.13 was recorded as expenditure on the GIFMIS and lodged in an account. Out of Out of this account, 194 payment vouchers, totalling GH¢543,058,709.13, were processed and paid. We recommended that payments to service providers and transfers to MDAs regarding COVID-19 expenditures should be processed and paid through the GIFMIS.”
Out of the total sum, the Auditor-General indicated in paragraph 57 of the report that the Finance Ministry disbursed GH¢231,150,955.97 in 2020 to “service providers for the provision of hotel accommodations, evacuations of Ghanaians, supply of fuel and transfer of funds to MDAs.”
Here is a screenshot of the Auditor-General’s report on Ghana’s COVID-19 fund
Again, the Auditor-General noted in paragraph 57 of the report that:
“We, however, noted that the payments to service providers were made outside the GIFMIS platform. Similarly, in 2021, 92 payment vouchers were used to pay GH¢311,907,753.13 for PPEs, hotel accommodation, and fumigation by resorting to the use of manual cash books on Excel spreadsheets and manual cheques other than GIFMIS.”
Although the Finance Ministry recorded the GH¢543,058,709.13 on GIFMIS as expenditure, it explained that the payments made to suppliers and MDAs were made outside the accounting platform to “avoid double counting.”
Commenting on the development in paragraph 59 of the report, the Auditor-General was emphatic that:
“Processing transactions and payments to service providers and MDAs outside the GIFMIS could compromise controls on expenditures as the use of Excel spreadsheets and manual cheques do not have strong controls about the GIFMIS process.”
Conclusion
Mr Tamakloe’s claim that the Finance Ministry spent GH¢500 million of Ghana’s COVID-19 fund outside the country’s financial management system, GIFMIS, is false.
