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Manasseh Azure talked about a lot of things Ghanaians expected from Nana-Addo which he failed to honour or do them. He claimed that Ghana faced severe economic challenges after the Covid-19 Pandemic swept across the globe and the government frequently reminded citizens of the pandemic’s devastating impact on the economy.
However, many Ghanaians were skeptical, viewing the government’s messaging as mere “PR gimmicks.” One such skeptic is investigative journalist Manasseh Azure, who, in his latest book “The President Ghana Never Got,” sheds light on what transpired “behind the scenes” during the pandemic.
In chapter 30, titled “The Scandal Akufo-Addo Initiated,” he wrote, “It was natural to think that the COVID-19 pandemic would cause them to reflect and attempt to act reasonably, but those in charge did not miss an opportunity to create avenues to loot.”
He detailed how the country’s health facilities were overwhelmed and lacked essential equipment needed to combat the virus effectively.
He cited the Ashanti Region, home to over five million people, where only 40 hospital beds were available. The situation was so dire that COVID-19 positive patients were sometimes housed in the same wards as those without the virus.
Manasseh wrote: “What caused COVID-19 taxes to be passed after Akufo-Addo won his second term in the December 2020 election?”
How government looted through disinfection exercises
After the news of the virus reaching Ghana broke, the president ordered the disinfection of public places including markets and schools.
Manasseh said the government suspended the services of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
It rather employed the services of another contractor to undertake the exercise at an additional cost to the state.
From the figures, the Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Education probably spent not less than 600 million cedis on these exercises “which were undertaken by a private contractor where the assemblies were ordered to stop”.
Source: tigpost
