For Immediate Release 1st September 2020

PRESS RELEASE
AUDITOR-GENERAL’S REFERENCES TO THE COVID-19 PRIVATE SECTOR FUND UNDER THE AUDIT
OF THE NATIONAL COVID-19 TRUST FUND

We have taken note of the Auditor-General’s management report in reference to the National Covid-
19 Trust Fund (NCTF). The report makes inaccurate and misleading references to the Covid-19 Private
Sector Fund (GCPSF). As a transparent and open organisation whose activities are funded by the
public, we are concerned by the misrepresentations made and hereby address the issues as follows:

1. The GCPSF has had a healthy cooperation with the NCTF which has ultimately been beneficial
to the people of Ghana. We are grateful to the NCTF and proud of the successes attained by
the partnership in the provision of public goods.
2. We are gravely concerned by the statement made in paragraph 30 of the Auditor-General’s
management letter which suggests that the GCPSF could trade with public funds for personal
gains. We are a not-for-profit organisation and do not engage in trading. Neither have we
suggested, acted, nor purported to engage in commercial activities for which the GCPSF, its
trustees, officers, assigns or representatives shall or stand to benefit personally.
3. As is publicly known, the GCPSF operates with very competent structures with reputable
partners like KPMG (Fund Accountants), Ernst & Young (Fund Auditors), Stanbic Investment
Management Service (Fund Managers), Fidelity Bank and Ecobank (Fund Custodians), Bentsi-
Enchill Letsa & Ankomah (Fund Lawyers) and other efficient structures that ensure value for
money and compliance.
4. The NCTF was the largest donor to our Protect and Resource the Frontline (PARF) project,
donating GHS10.257mn for the supply of medical equipment and PPE to major COVID-19
centres and frontliners. The NTCF was also a major donor (GHS6.8mn) to our Facility 100
project that saw the delivery of Ghana’s First Infectious Disease Centre.
5. To ensure value for money, we undertook a transparent and competitive process with officials
from the NCTF invited to participate as observers. A procurement report was subsequently
submitted to the NTCF for their consideration. This served as the basis for the donation.
6. The GCPSF entered into a donation agreement with the NTCF in May 2020 to provide funding
for the GCPSF to acquire and jointly donate the items listed in the procurement report. The
GCPSF duly received the funds and acquired all the authorised items for joint donation and
distribution with the NCTF.
7. The GCPSF renegotiated some contracts following the failure of some contractors to supply
the required items on time or meet our quality standards. These renegotiations provided
opportunities to extract value and achieve savings of GHS254,203 for the project. This was
reported in our 2020 accounts prepared by KPMG and same shared with the NCTF.
 8. We drew the attention of the NCTF auditors to the savings and notified the NCTF of our intent
to apply the savings towards the acquisition of additional items for COVID-19 centres since the
PARF project was still active.
9. In conjunction with officials from Noguchi Medical Research Institute (Noguchi), we
commenced a procurement process to provide the GIDC laboratory with relevant equipment
for it to be upgraded to a level-3 status comparable to the laboratory at Noguchi. This process
commenced in July 2020 and was completed in May 2022 with the award of the relevant
contracts worth GHS1.33mn. The process, just as previous, was competitive and transparent.
10. The NCTF PARF donation saving of GHS254,203 was partly applied to fund the acquisition of
the lab equipment.
11. On the 15th of July 2022, we received a letter from the NCTF requesting a refund of the saving
citing the recommendation of the Auditor-General’s report for the GCPSF to account for the
saving or refund it. It should be noted that prior to this letter and contrary to paragraph 32 of
the Auditor-General’s report, we had never been requested to refund the savings.
12. We opted to ensure the implementation of the lab upgrade project before completing the
accounting process for the saving. Goods worth GHS557,610 have been delivered as at date
with more undergoing clearing at the Tema Port.
13. We have notified the NCTF of the application of the GHS254,203 towards the acquisition of
the level-3 lab-required real-time PCR equipment delivered in the past few days.
14. In our estimation, the application of the funds in the procurement of this critical equipment
for the public good is constructive and believe it effectively addresses the recommendation
by the Auditor-General to have us account for the funds which were unutilised at the time of
the audit. We have therefore requested the NCTF to reconsider its request for a refund.
15. We have further indicated our willingness and ability to make the payment requested if the
NCTF so insists after reconsidering its position in the light of the new information we have
provided.
We are grateful for the public support in the execution of our projects and assure all of our
continuous and unflinching commitment to accountability, transparency and value for money in all
our activities and endeavours.

We remain.

Signed

Senyo K. Hosi
Managing Trustee