Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson has alleged that $65 million of the $200 million allocated for the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project (GARID) was misused.
Despite the Minority’s strong opposition, Parliament approved an additional $150 million loan facility from the World Bank for the GARID project on Friday, May 17, 2024.
In an interview with Citi TV on Monday, May 20, Dr. Ato Forson stated that funds earmarked for COVID-19 expenditure were misappropriated. He criticized the Ministry of Works and Housing for failing to provide a detailed account of the expenditure to Parliament.
“Someone somewhere is trying to distort the facts, but there’s the need for us to correct the records and let Ghanaians be aware of what exactly the situation is. So far, they have drawn out almost $180 million out of the $200 million loan. Unfortunately, even though they had drawn out almost $180 million, the amount has been misappropriated or misapplied.
“For example, $65 million of the GARID loan that was supposed to be used for the purposes of killing the floods, was misapplied for the purposes of COVID-19 expenditure.
“Yet, we don’t have the breakdown of the COVID-19 expenditure. We were told that unlike a typical World Bank facility, where a project implementation unit would have been established, and payments made directly to the contractors, in this case, the amount was paid into the Ministry of Works and Housing’s account, and the Ministry has failed to account to Parliament how much money that they have spent from that account,” he said.
Dr. Forson expressed concern over the lack of transparency and called for a thorough investigation into the misappropriation of GARID funds.
He emphasized the need for accountability and urged the government to ensure that public funds are used for their intended purposes, particularly in projects aimed at improving the lives of Ghanaians.