The Ministry of Finance has accused the previous Akufo-Addo administration of diverting $65 million from a World Bank-funded flood protection project to finance Covid-19 activities.

Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Frederick Amissah, said the money formed part of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project, which was intended to tackle flooding but was instead redirected during the pandemic.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, July 6, he rejected suggestions that delays in the release of funds had affected the project.

“There haven’t been any delays in the release of funds, and I just don’t know where that is coming from,” he said.

Mr Amissah stressed that GARID was one of several World Bank loan projects contracted by the state and should be treated with greater accountability because the country is obliged to repay the loans.

He said the Mahama administration uncovered several cases in which borrowed funds had been used inappropriately after assuming office in 2025.

He cited the Ghana Economic Transformation (GET) Project, claiming that almost GH¢1 billion was spent on travel in 2024.

“There was a project called the Ghana Economic Transformation (GET) Project, and almost ¢1 billion was spent on travelling in 2024. In one year alone, a billion Ghana cedis was used to travel for a World Bank project,” he said.

Mr Amissah said President John Mahama directed the Finance Minister in March 2025 to support the flood response committee with resources from the GARID facility after it was established.

He explained that the project was valued at $350 million, with $137 million already drawn down.

“Nearly half of the $137 million went into COVID expenditure; it was redirected to COVID,” he stated.

According to him, the total amount diverted for Covid was $65 million.

“Even the $65 million that was transferred for the purpose of COVID, only $60.8 million has been successfully retired. About $4.2 million remains unretired.”

Asked whether the Covid emergency justified redirecting the funds, Mr Amissah disagreed.

“There was no justification for that,” he said.

He argued that government already had access to other funding sources, including the Stabilisation Fund established during President Mahama’s first administration, support from the International Monetary Fund, and facilities from the African Development Bank.

He maintained that Covid spending contributed significantly to Ghana’s debt crisis because many of the resources obtained were loans rather than grants.

Providing further details, Mr Amissah said that part of the diverted funds was used to finance fumigation activities.

“Fumigation took a chunk, for which we had about $2.8 million,” he disclosed.

He also claimed that $60.8 million was shared to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, while more than $1 million was spent on quarantine feeding.

“What actually perplexes me is that there was something that was described as support, support for Covid-19 activities of $3 million and we don’t know what that is,” he said.

Mr Amissah criticised the use of the funds, insisting that public officials could not ignore what he described as the misuse of borrowed money, especially at a time when Ghana’s economic crisis was driven by rising debt.