The Finance Ministry has disclosed that $4.2 million transferred from the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project for Covid-19 expenditure under the Akufo-Addo administration remains unretired.
Technical Advisor at the Finance Ministry, Frederick Amissah, said there had been no delays in the release of GARID funds, contrary to suggestions that funding bottlenecks had slowed implementation.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, July 6, he stressed that GARID was one of several World Bank-funded projects and the funds involved were loans that Ghana is obliged to repay.
“There haven’t been any delays in the release of funds,” he said, insisting the focus should instead be on how the borrowed money had been used.
Mr Amissah said the Mahama administration, after taking office in 2025, reviewed several loan-funded projects and found spending patterns that raised concerns.
He cited the Ghana Economic Transformation (GET) Project as one example, claiming that nearly GH¢1 billion was spent on travel in 2024 under the previous administration.
According to him, President John Mahama later directed the Finance Minister to support the work of the flood response committee established in March 2025 with resources from the GARID facility.
He explained that the GARID programme is a $350 million project, of which $137 million has so far been drawn down.
According to him, almost half of that amount was redirected to Covid-19 expenditure.
“The figures are out there,” he said. “Nearly half of the $137 million went into Covid expenditure.”
Mr Amissah said $65 million was transferred for Covid-related activities, but only $60.8 million had been properly retired.
“About $4.2 million remains unretired,” he stated.
Asked whether the Covid-19 emergency justified the diversion of the funds, Mr Amissah rejected that argument.
“There was no justification for that,” he said.
He argued that Ghana already had other financial resources available to respond to the pandemic, including the Stabilisation Fund established during President Mahama’s first administration, the IMF’s Rapid Credit Facility and financing from the African Development Bank.
He maintained that Covid-19 became one of the factors behind Ghana’s debt crisis because additional borrowed resources were mobilised.
Mr Amissah also questioned some of the Covid-related expenditures financed with the GARID funds.
He said about $2.8 million went into fumigation, while more than $1 million was spent on quarantine feeding.
He added that part of the funds, amounting to about $60.8 million, was shared among Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
He also pointed to an expenditure item described only as “support for Covid-19 activities” valued at $3 million.
“We don’t know what that is,” he said.
Mr Amissah further questioned the effectiveness of the fumigation exercise, saying there were lingering doubts over whether it achieved its intended purpose.
He argued that the manner in which the funds were spent warranted scrutiny because the loans remain obligations that Ghana must repay, adding that no Finance Minister or President should allow such conduct to persist when the country’s economic crisis was rooted in excessive debt.
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