The Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Bernard Bediako Baidoo, says the Auditor-General has “a lot of questions to answer” over the omission of significant COVID-19 fumigation expenditure from the Auditor-General’s special audit report.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, the MP said the discrepancy raises serious questions about whether the expenditure was properly audited and, if so, why the relevant findings were not included in the report submitted to Parliament.

"This is a serious matter. The Auditor General would have to answer questions. If it was a mistake, you should come and say it, and then we'll find out how come such an issue was a mistake,” he said.

His comments follow investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni’s findings on COVID-19 fumigation expenditure, which have raised questions about the extent to which such spending was captured in the Auditor-General’s special audit.

The Akwatia MP also questioned the necessity of spending hundreds of millions of cedis on fumigation during the pandemic.

“Sometimes when we talk about the monies we spend on things, sometimes I wonder. This country, 700 and what? 80 million. To do what? Fumigation,” he said.

Bediako Baidoo suggested that the total expenditure could be higher if fumigation carried out by other institutions, including the health sector, was also considered.

The MP also questioned the rationale for spending on fumigation in places where people were not present, particularly during periods when the public had been directed to stay home.

“And you were spending on some where we were not there as well. It doesn't make sense,” he said.

He stressed that the Auditor-General must provide clarity on whether the expenditure was audited, why it may have been omitted, and whether the spending itself was necessary.