Information Ministry justifies ¢151k paid to staff as Covid-19 risk allowance

Ghana’s Ministry of Information has provided reasons for giving allowance of over 150 thousand Ghana cedis to its management and some staff who worked during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The response from the Ministry of Information came after the Auditor-general raised concerns about the transaction between the period between March 2020 to June 2022, seeking answers to reasons for such remuneration.

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Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu who holds the position of Auditor General, requested  that the Ministry of Information refund all allowances paid to its own management. This is because the allowances were paid to the management without any approval.

“During our review, we noted that senior management staff and other supporting staff of the Ministry of Information paid themselves a total amount of GH¢151,500.00 as COVID-19 risk allowance for coming to work during the lockdown,” part of the report stated.

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However, the Director of Finance and Monitoring at the Ministry of Information, Mawuli Segbefia, says the money was meant to motivate staff.

According to him, “the allowances were part of the plan that was submitted to the Ministry of Health for approval”.

“You will recall that during that time when the country was locked up, most officers of MDAs were required to stay at home but the Ministry of Information was required to report to work every day as part of response to the Covid fight.

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So we needed to motivate those staff who came daily to the office to help develop the Covid-19 response plan for publication.”

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