Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has described the Minority side’s decision to audit the use of the Covid-19 funds as jumping the gun.

According to him, the NDC MPs are merely trying to carry out a process which will subsequently be carried out again by the Auditor-General and laid before the House for debate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC2zuALgXqo

He explained that whereas the Majority side is not opposed to an audit of the Covid fund expenditures, Article 187 and Order 919 of the House oppose the duplicity which the Minority is trying to create.

He called on the Minority to exercise patience and wait for the Auditor General’s report.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOOydQo7ig

“Article 187 is standing in their way and Order 919 is also standing in their way. You see sometimes I don’t understand our colleagues and well we’re there in a political enterprise, the ultimate goal is to win.

“They lost the elections in 2020 and we announced breaking the 8. So for day one, all they’ve been doing is to win ’24. So, pure politics and they would try to carry on the nation. Our duty in the Majority is to push back and ensure that we get the right things done,” he said.

He added that “Look, there’s no doubt that by a constitutional imperative, parliament has its oversight on the executive, exercise oversight on the institution of the state and all that. Those are our primary bona fides, no doubt at all about that. But in the same vein, the constitution has also created some pillars to aid us in our work. So what is really their plaint?”

His comment follows the move by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka and Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson to file a motion to Alban Bagbin, asking the House for a bipartisan probe into the ¢8.1 billion expenditure by government.

That motion was admitted.

However, the First Deputy Speaker, who subsequently presided over proceedings in the House in the Speaker's absence, dismissed the motion.

Currently, the Minority is readying to challenge the dismissal of their motion.

Explaining the Majority’s stance against the motion, Afenyo-Markin stated that the auditing of the Covid expenditure should be left to the appropriate state agencies to deal with.

“Fine, now if so what do you do? Or how do you establish an irregularity in expenditure? You establish an irregularity through an audit, no other means. They must get that straight. You establish an irregularity through an audit. Now by the same constitutional imperative, there is a body called the Auditor General’s office, there’s a state agency called the Auditor General who has the mandate to audit public accounts.

"They have their audit and that audit report is laid, it is referred to public accounts committee there is a bipartisan headed by the minority, Hon. James Kludze Avedzi the deputy minority leader. So the interrogation will be done. All the things that they want to know can be found in the Auditor General’s report,” he said.

He further stated that should the Minority not be satisfied with the Auditor General’s report, they can always seek redress by filing a complaint to the plenary.