Director of Communications at the presidency, Eugene Arhin, has denied claims that the government sponsored 337 delegates to participate in the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

At a press briefing held at the Jubilee House on Thursday, he explained that most of the participants on the list took part in the summit virtually, thus did not travel to Glasgow.

"Not everybody on the 337 participating list was present. Some participated in some of the events virtually, so let’s not stretch this thing too much," he told the media.

He stressed that apart from the 24-member presidential delegation, which involved four Ministers and representatives from their agencies, all other individuals who attended the conference were not sponsored by the government.

"There were media personalities as well as representatives from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) who were captured on the list of 337 persons and who have also confirmed that their trip to Glasgow was not funded by government."

"For the avoidance of doubt, let me place on record that the official presidential delegation comprised of 24 persons including the President, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Energy, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation; as well officials from the Presidency and Foreign Affairs Ministry," Mr Arhin stated.

Government received backlash from the public with some critics describing the number of delegates as unnecessary.

Earlier, the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Henry Kwabena Kokofu, refuted the same claims with a similar explanation.