According to the Auditor General, the government spent $80 million on vaccines that have not yet been delivered.
The African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) received over $120 million in government funding, but only $38 million of that was actually delivered, according to the A-G.
The Chief Director of the Health Ministry has been advised by the Auditor-General to renegotiate and pay the remaining balance.
According to the A-G, this needs to be done right now in order to guarantee that the state gets its money back.
“We noted that the Ministry of Health on behalf of the government of Ghana paid an amount of $120,192,379.80 to UNICEF/AVAT for the supply of vaccines.
“However, 5,109,600.00 doses of vaccines valued at $38,322,000.00 were supplied to the National Cold Room leaving a difference of US$81,870,379.00 with UNICEF/AVAT.
“We recommend that the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health should renegotiate with UNICEF/AVAT to recover the outstanding amount,” he said.
In the meantime, the research noted that only 25% (or ¢5.5) of the roughly US$2.5 billion (or ¢21 billion) raised for the fight against Covid-19 was put into health.
The A-G also stated that the remaining funds were used for government initiatives like Free SHS and LEAP, among others.
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In 2021, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, the health minister, defended his decision not to seek parliamentary clearance before entering into a contract with Sheik Maktoum to purchase Covid-19 vaccinations.
He breached the provisions of Article 181(5) of the 1992 Constitution, which states that all international agreements must be approved by the Parliament, by not requesting the consent of the legislature.
The Minister stated that the infection and fatality rates forced him to deviate from established protocols when signing the contract for the purchase of the vaccines in response to inquiries at the meeting of a Parliamentary Committee looking into the contract.
The Minister expressed his desperation for vaccines and frustration over the failure of conventional vaccine supply sources.
Source: Myjoyonline
