The Board of Trustees of the COVID-19 National Trust Fund has paid GH¢7,447,402.80 into the Consolidated Fund.
The payment was the balance after disbursing the entire contributions received.
The payment was necessary, as the work of the trustee ended today, Thursday, August 31, 2023, after operating for three years and six months.
Its mandate has ended today, following the declaration by the President in his COVID-19 address on May 28, 2023, which indicated the end of the work of the Fund.
As of Wednesday, August 30, 2023, when the Board briefed the Presidential Press Corps on the disbursement, total contributions received by the COVID-19 National Trust Fund, both in cash and in kind, was GH¢65,467,911.71.
Out of the amount, GH¢58,020,508.91 had been disbursed for the major projects, programmes, activities, and interventions that the Chairperson, Justice Sophia Akuffo, listed.
She said that “altogether, the Trust Fund received contributions in cash and in kind from over 447 individuals, corporate bodies, and other social groups to whom there can be no words sufficient to convey the depth of our gratitude.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we thank His Excellency Nana Addo-Dankwah Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana, for the immense trust he reposed in us to function under Act 1013. We are confident, and our audited books will no doubt show that we have executed our duties well,” she remarked.
EXPENDITURE
The Trust Fund acquired and distributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to a cumulative total value of GH¢22,113,760.00, to 56 regional, municipal, and district hospitals. The COVID-19 Care Management Centres, Isolation Centres, 8 Testing Centres, and about226 CHPS compounds are spread across the length and breadth of the country.
The Fund spent a total of GH¢4,359,854.00 on public education, awareness raising, sensitization, and information dissemination on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, the NOGUCHI Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and the Veterinary Services Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture were supported with a total amount of GH¢7,555,082.00 for the purchase of reagents through the Ministry of Health to enhance testing of the virus during the heat of the pandemic.
The Fund provided various forms of support towards the construction, rehabilitation, and equipping of COVID-19 Care Management Centres, Isolation Centres, Hospitals, and other medical facilities, to the tune of GH₡8, 637,280.56.
An amount of GH¢500.00 each was paid through the Apex Bank to 7,927 identified poor and vulnerable persons across the country affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which totaled GH₡3,963,500.00.
Furthermore, a total of GH¢210,030.00 was utilized to settle bills relating to the mandatory quarantine in Sunyani of a group of 42 Ghanaian deportees from Côte dIvoire through the Bono Regional Coordinating Council.
The Trust Fund supported some institutions with an amount of GH¢4,995,375.92 to conduct various kinds of research on the COVID-19 pandemic and to support research and innovation on various aspects of the pandemic’s combat.
END OPERATIONS ACTIVITIES
According to the Trust Fund, an amount of GH¢27,780.00 has been paid to the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) to keep and manage all the relevant records of the Trust Fund for future referencing.
Additionally, at a cost of GH¢150,600.00, the Trust Fund contracted the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) to conduct a study on the governance structure, sources of funding, and legal regime.
This is for a possible future institution to function on a broader basis as a conduit for receiving and managing resources to support the management or combat of any future medical emergency similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On behalf of the Chief of Staff, Frema Akosua Osei Opare, the Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Nsiah Asare, expressed “the profound gratitude of the President, the people of Ghana, and myself to the Board of Trustees of the COVID-19 Trust Fund.”
