Ghana has spent a total of $17.7 billion fighting the Covid-19 pandemic since its emergence in 2020, according to President Akufo-Addo during the State of the Nation Address (SONA 2022).
According to the President, this is comparable to 4.6 percent of the country’s GDP .
President Akufo-Addo stated in his 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament that expenditure made by the existing administration included the provision of power and water subsidies to approximately 5 million households and over 10 million Ghanaians.
“The unplanned expenditures included, but were not limited to, the recruitment, on a permanent basis, of 58,191 healthcare professionals, and the payment of extra incentives to our frontline health workers.
It took an unbudgeted GH¢1.9 billion to ensure that our children and teaching staff went back and stayed in school safely,” the president said.
He remarked that the epidemic attracted attention to the country’s shortcomings in healthcare service, prompting the formation of Agenda 111.
The President stated that his administration is overseeing the development of 111 entities, which include normal 100-bed district hospitals for 101 districts that do not have hospitals, as well as accommodations for doctors and nurses.
Also, there will be “six new regional hospitals for each of the six new regions; the rehabilitation of the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in the Western Region; one new regional hospital for the Western Region; and three psychiatric hospitals for each of the three zones of the country, i.e. North, Middle and Coastal.”
The President described Agenda 111 as an “ambitious project,” saying it will offer jobs for about 33,900 construction workers and approximately 34,300 health personnel.
For the President, his administration’s handling of the Covid-19 outbreak has been excellent.
“I might add here that, in some countries, school closures have lasted for 20 months, and children are only now going back to school. Our children did not lose a single academic year,” he added.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has stated that the Presidential Vaccine Manufacturing Committee-National Vaccine Institute would begin commercial manufacture of the Covid-19 vaccines in January 2024.
Covid-19 and its related expenditure
Cassiel Ato Forson February, the ranking member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, has proposed the formation of a bipartisan committee to investigate the government’s Covid-19 expenditure.
Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Deputy Majority Leader, stood to raise a preliminary objection to the motion being tabled. The Speaker then asked him to postpone his objection, wait for the motion to be introduced, and then resubmit it.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin enquired about the scope of the Speaker’s decision. According to the explanation, “it was improper to object to a motion that had not even been tabled in the first place.”
He said that Bagbin should not have admitted the motion in the first place.
The Minority in Parliament accused the First Deputy Speaker of usurping the Speaker’s authority as a result of his actions.
Speaker Alban Bagbin voiced his displeasure with First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu for rejecting the proposal.
Speaker Bagbin stated that Mr. Osei-Owusu’s decision to overturn his ruling on the case was unconstitutional, illegal, and offensive, especially because he admitted the motion was unconstitutional, illegal, and offensive.
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SOURCE: myjoyonline
