Parliament blocks govt’s €75million COVID-19 response loan; summons Ofori-Atta to account previous loans

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has placed a moratorium on the approval of a 75 million euro loan for COVID-19 Response contracted from the European Investment Bank by Government of Ghana.

The Speaker says this will be in place until the Minister for Finance accounts for the utilization of funds approved so far for government.

“The Ministry of Finance must give an account of all the monies that it has gotten for the management of COVID-19. Only after that will this house consider approving or otherwise another loan.”

He made the remarks in Parliament when the motion for the loan was tabled in the house.

Mr. Bagbin also summoned the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to account for all monies utilised during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I direct that the Minister of Finance appears before this House to account for all the monies that were approved for the utilisation of the covid pandemic. It’s only then and only after that this motion will have an expression in the House to be approved or otherwise.

Gov’t disbursing NBSSI's COVID-19 loan to NPP sympathizers for votes – Mahama

In the run to the 2020 elections, flagbearer for the NDC, John Mahama accused the Akufo-Addo government of allocating about 50% of the COVID-19 relief fund to supporters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The government set aside an amount of GH¢600 million to be disbursed in the form of loans to small-scale businesses to cushion them from the adverse economic impact brought on the country by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Mahama made similar accusations at the 24^th African Business Conference organized by the Harvard Business School last month.

He alleged that the Akufo-Addo-led government channelled the Covid-19 pandemic windfall of over GH¢33 billion meant to cushion the economy into its 2020 campaign activities.

—citinewsroom