Government of Ghana
A team of independent tech organisations have launched a project to monitor how the government and its agencies have expended funds allocated for the country’s COVID-19 response programmes in a bid to ensure transparency and accountability.
“The Country Lead of BudgIT, Mr Ray Fiifi Nkum, told the Daily Graphic that CTAP sought to leverage digital tools to promote public discussion about the COVID-19 expenditure with the aim to deepen civic engagement and access to information.”
The project, dubbed: ‘COVID-19 Transparency and accountability project (CTAP), is expected to lend insight into the various interventions adopted by the government to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the public.
It is also aimed at strengthening public awareness of the effective use of COVID-19 funds by the government.
It was developed by BudgIT Ghana and Connected Development (CODE), in collaboration with SEND Ghana, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO).
CTAP is a Pan-African project launched in the wake of COVID-19 to track public expenditure and response of African governments as part of measures to help deepen transparency and accountability.
It is a collaboration between the BudgIT Foundation and CODE, two civic-tech non-governmental organisations spearheading advocacy for openness, transparency and accountability in public finance in Africa.
“The unavailability of public data on COVID-19 expenditure has raised concerns about alleged misuse of the intervention funds among a section of the citizens and civil society,” he added.
Since March 2020, when Ghana recorded its first confirmed coronavirus cases, governments, bilateral and multilateral donors, development banks, philanthropic organisations, and the private sector have contributed funds, equipment, and expertise to support the country’s COVID-19 response.
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