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General News of Friday, 24 July 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Ghanaians doubt, shocked by GH¢54.3m price tag for coronavirus free food

Government says the cost of the free meals during the lockdown cost the state GHS54.3m Government says the cost of the free meals during the lockdown cost the state GHS54.3m

Some social media users in Ghana have expressed doubts after revelations that a government initiative to distribute hot meals to the underprivileged during a three-week COVID-19 lockdown cost the state over GH¢54 million.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta said on Thursday, July 23, 2020, while he was presenting the 2020 Mid-year Budget Review to Parliament that the cost of providing cooked food for vulnerable people in lockdown areas in Accra and Kumasi was GH¢54.3 million.

“Mr Speaker, the support to households, in terms of supply of dry food packs and hot cooked meals cost Government GH¢54.3 million to enable them to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. This was in addition to an amount of GH¢50.2 million transferred to the 400,000 most-vulnerable individuals under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme,” Mr Ofori-Atta said in Parliament.

The Minister further disclosed that 470,000 families were reached with the food distribution exercise and it was carried out in collaboration with faith-based organisations.

Shortly after that, Facebook users came online to mock the cost figure of GH¢54.3 million because they claim it is outrageous and most likely inflated.

Some comments accuse the Nana Akufo-Addo administration of blatant corruption.

Read some of the comments gathered on Facebook below.