The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament will demand answers from the Audit Service over evidence suggesting that the Auditor-General’s COVID-19 audit may have understated fumigation expenditure by more than GH¢600 million.

His comments follow an investigation by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, which found that Ghana may have spent at least GH¢720 million on COVID-19 fumigation, despite the Auditor-General’s special audit recording only GH¢96 million for the exercise.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, September 15, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Davis Ansah Opoku, described the alleged discrepancy as “frightening” and a “huge anomaly,” saying the issue will be raised when the PAC begins its engagement with the Audit Service on Monday.

“Well, it’s frightening. It’s quite a worrying issue. You look at the figures that were reported and the figures that Manasseh is making claim that have been left out. And I think it’s something that ought to come to the attention of the committee,” he said.

“Luckily for us, from Monday we are engaging the Audit Service, and we are going to put this to them to find out why and how this omission happened,” he added.

He also raised concerns about the quality of the special COVID-19 audit, saying the PAC had previously identified issues that suggested the exercise may have been conducted hastily.

“Just to say that, you know, this was a special audit that was conducted. In fact, when the committee met to look at the special audit report, it was quite revealing that it looks like the work was hurriedly done,” he said.

According to him, the committee had already identified discrepancies in some claims contained in the report, including amounts said to be owed to agencies and institutions.

He said the PAC had been working to reconcile those claims with evidence available to the committee.

Mr Ansah Opoku, however, said the alleged fumigation expenditure gap was particularly significant and warranted further scrutiny.