The Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Parliament has served notice it will ensure the GH¢1.2 billion approved for Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) is judiciously used and for the intended purpose.
According to the Minority, the GH¢1.2 billion is quite a huge amount and they have a duty to ensure the right thing is done.
Minority member of the Finance Committee, John Jinapor, gave these assurances in an interview with the thecustodianghonline.com after the Minister of Finance was granted approval to access the amount from the Contingency Fund.
Parliament was recalled from suspension to listen to the Minister’s request to be granted approval to start spending from the Contingency Fund.
Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, however, noted that Article 177(1) of the 1992 Constitution mandates the Committee to grant approval of such nature without plenary approval.
He indicated that the Committee was authorisating the Minister for Finance to spend the money.Mr. Jinapor noted that the Minority has its position in terms of what ought to be done and will push proposal strongly to the Minister.
He argued that in this difficult moment the best thing to do is build consensus to ensure indeed the interest of the Ghanaian people is served.
GH¢280 million of the approved GH¢1.2 billion will go into food packages and hotmeals while GH¢40 million will be used to stock the National Buffer Stock Company.
An additional GH¢200 million will be used to cater for bills on water and sanitation and GH¢241 will cover tax waiver for health personnel.
GH¢80 million will be spent on the allowance for health staff, GH¢2 million will be used to cover transportation for health workers and ¢600 million will be disbursed as soft loans to businesses.
