Former KPMG Chief Executive Officer Joseph Winful says some contracts awarded for COVID-19 fumigation exercises may have amounted to an abuse of office.

His comments come amid questions over the Auditor-General’s audit of COVID-19 expenditure and findings from an investigation by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni into fumigation spending.

Mr Winful said the issue should be examined beyond the figures involved, particularly by assessing the rationale behind contracts awarded for fumigation.

“What the Auditor-General did was mostly financial audit. But then they were also picking up on some of the rationale for giving out contracts for fumigation. Maybe some didn’t make sense. Maybe some were blatant abuse of the office,” he said.

He explained that a financial audit and a forensic investigation have different scopes, stressing the need to distinguish between the two when assessing the findings.

“If you are fumigating an open field, well, how expensive is that going to be? I do not know. I am not a public health [expert]. But there must have been some advice from those responsible for this to actually advise on the scope and the period and what have you, and also to evaluate what was done, whether it is worth it,” he said.

He questioned whether Ghana’s frequent emphasis on transparency, accountability and value for money is matched by the systems used to assess public spending.

“You know, our politicians love using the words value for money, value for money. It rhymes nicely, value for money. But really, are we even targeting obtaining any value for our actions?” he asked.

Mr Winful further stressed that effective financial management was essential to Ghana’s development and democratic governance.

“All this cannot be achieved if you do not have effective financial management. You end up with haircuts and saving cuts and what have you. We won’t get there,” he said.