BudgiT Ghana, a civic organisation that applies technology to ensure transparency and accountability, last Tuesday launched a report on COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability in Africa (CTAP) in Accra.
Dubbed “Vaccine Equity and Health Sector Accountability in Ghana,” the 25-page report undertook two studies on the health sector which sought to outline problems and related emerging issues and measure changes in different transformational epochs to ultimately inform civil society advocacy towards health sector transparency and vaccine equity.
Launching the report, Acting Country Director of BudgiT Ghana, Mr Felix Ankrah, said CTAP was committed to tracking all COVID-19 pandemic intervention funds as the resources expended during the pandemic ranged from grants, donations, loans and material support under phase one from 2020-2021.
He stated that the CTAP project, which was also concerned with intersecting citizen engagement with institutional improvement to facilitate societal change, looked to track all the resources committed to Africa as this would give a perspective on the management of COVID-19 funds in Africa.
“Amidst the global health emergency of international concern, multinational institutions, NGOs, INGOs, Governments and Development partners have contributed millions of dollars to the fight against COVID-19, but corruption within public sectors deepens people’s suspicions of government health actions, and this undermines health access.”
Under phase two, Mr Ankrah noted that, his firm would partner with other civil society groups and the media to stimulate and track public resources to ensure proper accountability and accountability of funding and finances donated to the fight against COVID-19 in seven African countries namely, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Malawi, Cameroon and Kenya.
He added that the CTAP would focus on strengthening ties among institutional and stakeholder engagement with the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service to advocate for health sector accountability and vaccine distribution.
Research Lead of BugdiT Ghana, MrKhiddirIddris, mentioned that CTAP focuses on five key points, Health Sector Governance, Community and Civil Society Presentation, Legal Frame Work, Taking initiatives and Final Research.
BY LINUS SIAW NARTEY
