President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been told to remove the ‘restriction of accountability’ now that he has eased several restrictions in the fight against Covid-19.
This taunt was directed at the President by a member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, while joining discussions on Update No. 28 on TV3‘s New Day on Monday, March 28.
The NDC member was frustrated the government has shrouded most of the deals to do with Covid-19, particularly on the antigen test at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) by Frontiers Health Service, in secrecy.
“There was no arm’s length negotiation. Nothing! The whole [contract with Frontiers] was quickly put together because the president, knowing that they were going to open the [Kotoka International] Airport by September [2020], they quickly put this whole solution together,” the private legal practitioner stated.
“I’m saying that in the midst of Covid, you cannot put an initiative that only profits an individual.”
The member of the opposition party said he thought the pandemic was rather a problem to solve but “I didn’t know that it was going to be something to be cashed in”.
For him, now that the dust is settling, the President should also “take off’ the restrictions that has made it difficult for him to be probed.
“I pray that now that the President has lifted the restrictions, among other things, the last restriction he needs to take off is the restriction on accountability. Of how Covid expenses and how Covid funds were utilised.”
But joining the discussions, Communications Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) George Ayisi insisted that accountability on Covid-19 expenditure will definitely come but after the Auditor-General’s report.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|editors.3news.com|Ghana
