The Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Bernard Bediako Baidoo, has questioned the omission of significant COVID-19 fumigation expenditure from the Auditor-General’s special audit report.

According to the MP, the discrepancy raises questions about whether the expenditure was properly captured in the audit and why relevant findings were not reflected in the report submitted to Parliament.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 19, Mr Bediako Baidoo said the Auditor-General would have to provide answers on the matter.

“This is a serious matter. The Auditor-General would have to answer questions. If it was a mistake, you should come and say it, and then we'll find out how come such an issue was a mistake,” he said.

His comments follow an investigation by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, which found significant discrepancies between the fumigation expenditure identified in government records and the figure reported in the Auditor-General’s special audit.

The Auditor-General’s 2022 special audit reported GH¢96.3 million as expenditure on fumigation. However, Mr Awuni’s investigation identified at least GH¢780 million spent on COVID-19 fumigation across three ministries.

The Ministry of Local Government alone reportedly spent about GH¢299 million on fumigation between April and November 2020, expenditure which Mr Awuni said was audited but was not reflected in the Auditor-General’s reported fumigation figure. The Audit Service has confirmed that the ministry’s expenditure was audited, while explaining that its absence from the report did not mean it had not been audited.

Bediako Baidoo also questioned the rationale for spending hundreds of millions of cedis on fumigation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sometimes when we talk about the monies we spend on things, sometimes I wonder. This country, 700 and what? 80 million. To do what? Fumigation,” he said.

He suggested that the total expenditure could be even higher when fumigation activities undertaken by other institutions, including those within the health sector, are considered.

The Akwatia MP also questioned the need for fumigation in locations where people were not present, particularly during periods when restrictions had been imposed and people had been directed to remain at home.

“And you were spending on some where we were not there as well. It doesn't make sense,” he said.

Bediako Baidoo stressed the need for the Auditor-General to clarify whether the various expenditures were audited, why some of them were not reflected in the final report and the basis for the spending.

The Auditor-General’s special audit covered government COVID-19 transactions from March 2020 to June 2022 and was submitted to Parliament on December 30, 2022.