An investigation by award-winning investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has uncovered what appears to be a major discrepancy in the Auditor-General’s special audit of Ghana’s COVID-19 expenditure.

According to Manasseh’s investigative report, while the audit put the total cost of COVID-19 fumigation at GH¢96.3 million, documents obtained from three ministries show that the government spent at least GH¢780 million on the activity between 2020 and 2022.

The investigation, which focused on the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, and Ministry of Transport, also showed that Zoomlion Ghana Limited received about GH¢775 million of the amount identified for the fumigation exercise.

For instance, it showed that the Ministry of Education spent approximately GH¢316.17 million across its three phases, but the special audit presented only the GH¢96.323 million Phase 2 expenditure as the cost of fumigation. That means approximately GH¢219.85 million from Education's Phase 1 and Phase 3 was not reflected in the fumigation figure.

Also, the investigation found that the Local Government Ministry spent about GH¢299 million (GH¢76.6 million for a first phase, GH¢76.6 million for a second phase and GH¢145.8 million for a third phase), yet none of these was included under the special audit's fumigation expenditure.

Additionally, the report showed that the Transport Ministry spent GH¢31.98 million on the fumigation exercise in 2020, GH¢31.98 million in 2021 and GH¢95.9 million in 2022 - over GH¢159 million in total. However, none of these expenditures was captured in the Auditor-General's report.

Click to read the full investigation report

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