Covid Expenditure: CSOs urged to continue to demand for accountability
Dr. Adwoa Yeboah Gyapong, a health consultant, has urged various Civil Society Organizations [CSOs] in the country to continue to demand for accountability in the use funds meant to fight the Covid pandemic by government.
Speaking at a forum organized by BudgIT Ghana on the need for transparency and accountability in the use Covid-related funds and in general funds disbursed by government for use in the heath system, Dr. Adwoa Yeboah Gyapong noted it takes the collective efforts of CSOs and the Ministry of Health to attain a clear and transparent accountability for Covid-19-related expenditure.
According to her, government has failed to properly account for the covid funds, hence the need for a continuous demand for proper accountability by CSOs.
Speaking further at the forum, Dr Adwoa Yeboah Gyapong likened difficulties in government accounting for Covid funds to challenges in accounting for disbursed resources in the health care delivery system.
Adding that, one major challenge facing the health care delivery system in the country is inequality. She asserts that distribution of human resources and health facilities are not made equal to all.
“Those who can afford it, gets the better treatment while the average Ghanaian gets little or nothing at all,” she stated.
She furthered that during the Covid-19 pandemic era, there were reports of corruption recorded in the procurement and supply of PPEs and the distribution of veronica buckets and hand sanitizers to various communities.
Dr. Adwoa Yeboah made the above statements this during a presentation on Social Accountability in Public Health Care Delivery.
Regional Accountant at the Ghana Health Service, Clement Atampgri, also present at the forum, disclosed that accountability has become a major challenge in the country due to partisan differences.
Adding that transparency is lacking because officials do not open up on funds or materials disbursed and the purpose for which they were allocated or disbursed.
The noted that MMDA’s play a major role in the initiation and execution of health care delivery in the country.
Meanwhile, BudgIT Ghana with funding from the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP) has implemented the COVID-19 and Health Systems Accountability Project.
The project is said to provide platforms for engaging government on transparent and accountable COVID-19 expenditure in Ghana, Nigeria and Tunisia.
The project works to ensure transparency and accountability for all COVID-19 funds at both national and sub-national level.
To enhance and strengthen the transparency and accountability, and to bridge the accountability gap, the project seeks to investigate accountability as it relates to health systems reform through stakeholder engagement at the national level.
The engagement focuses on the accountability gap of COVID-19 funds following the monitoring of COVID-19 expenditure at the national level.
