$81m of Covid Vaccine Missing After Payment– Auditor General Report
The Auditor-General revealed that the government has paid more than $120m to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) but only $38m has been remitted.
According to the AG, the vaccine worth $80m paid for by the government has not been delivered.
The AG said that immediate steps should be taken to ensure that the amount is returned to the state.
The report said “We note that the Ministry of Health on behalf of the government of Ghana paid $120,192,379.80 to UNICEF/AVAT for the supply of vaccines.
“However, 5,109,600.00 doses of vaccine worth $38,322,000.00 were given to the National Cold Room with a difference of US$81,870,379.00 with UNICEF/AVAT.
“It is recommended that the Director General of the Ministry of Health should renegotiate with UNICEF/AVAT to recover the outstanding amount,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the report also stated that of more than US$ 2.5bn (¢21bn) of money mobilized for the fight against Covid-19, only 25% (¢5.5bn) was spent on health.
The AG added that the balance was used for government programs such as Free SHS and LEAP, among others.
In 2021, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, defended his failure to get Parliamentary approval for a contract with Sheik Maktoum to obtain the Covid-19 vaccine from Russia.
Failure to seek Parliament’s approval is a violation of the provisions of Article 181(5) of the 1992 Constitution, which requires all international agreements to be approved by Parliament.
Responding to a question at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee investigating the contract, the Minister said that the infection and death rate forced him to ignore the procedure established to sign the contract to obtain the vaccine.
The minister said he was desperate to get the vaccine and was frustrated that the usual source of vaccine supply had failed.
Thus, the Auditor-General advised the Director General of the Ministry of Health to renegotiate and refund the remaining balance.
By Daniel Bampoe
$81m Shipment of Covid Vaccine Misses After Payment– Auditor-General Report appeared first on DailyGuide Network.
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