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According to the Auditor General, the Information Ministry paid itself Ghc151,000 as a Covid-19 payment for working under a lockdown.
Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, the Auditor-General, has ordered the Information Ministry to repay around 151,500 to its own management and personnel without permission.
In Mr. Asiedu’s examination of Covid-19 transactions for the months of March 2020 to June 2022, this was made clear.
The development apparently happened in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus epidemic in Ghana, when there was a lockdown.
“During our review, we noted that senior management staff and other supporting staff of the Ministry of Information paid themselves a total amount of GH¢151,500.00 as COVID-19 risk allowance for coming to work during the lockdown,” the report stated.
At the time, President Akufo-Addo promised various rewards for frontline healthcare providers, including insurance and tax exemptions, for their efforts to slow the spread of the virus.
Some of the healthcare employees are allegedly still waiting on their part of the stipends as of right now.
The most recent report questions the justification for such a salary given that the Chief of Staff did not approve of it.
The act “contravenes the aforesaid Presidential directions and without authorisation from the Office of Chief of Staff,” the paper states.
The sum should be recovered from the beneficiary personnel and deposited into the Auditor- General’s Recoveries account, according to the Auditor- General’s recommendation.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
