Omanghana
The Minority in Parliament has rejected the government’s explanation surrounding the GH¢350 million approved for emergency flood relief, accusing the Finance Ministry of presenting conflicting accounts about the source and release of the money.
The controversy intensified after Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson addressed the fund during the presentation of the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review.
Dr. Forson told Parliament that the government initially planned to withdraw GH¢350 million from the Contingency Fund after receiving parliamentary approval. However, the money could not be accessed because an Accra High Court had placed the fund under a garnishee order.
According to the minister, the government subsequently reallocated GH¢350 million from the Contingency Vote in the 2026 Budget and transferred it to the Disaster Management Committee under the Ministry of the Interior. An additional GH¢226 million was reallocated for flood-control projects, bringing the total emergency and mitigation allocation to GH¢576 million.
The Minority, however, said that explanation contradicted an earlier announcement from the Ministry of Finance indicating that the GH¢350 million had been released from the Contingency Fund and transferred into a dedicated account for flood relief and mitigation.
That earlier statement reportedly said the money had been transferred to support the National Emergency Flood Response Program following the devastating June 29 floods.
Members of the opposition caucus are now demanding documentary evidence showing the exact account from which the money was withdrawn and the legal authority under which the transaction occurred.
The Minority argues that if the Contingency Fund remained legally attached, it could not have been the source of the payment. If the money came from another public account, the caucus maintains that the alternative funding arrangement should have been fully disclosed and subjected to the appropriate parliamentary process.
The caucus has cited possible breaches of the 1992 Constitution and the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), while stressing that its concerns must be resolved through the release of official financial records.
The Minority is also demanding the resignation or dismissal of Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Dr. Dominic Ayine. It accuses him of failing to take the necessary legal steps to protect the constitutional fund and resolve the garnishee proceedings.
According to the caucus, the Attorney-General should have applied to the court to vary or discharge the attachment before any attempt was made to access the affected account.
The opposition has further called for the Finance Minister, Attorney-General and Governor of the Bank of Ghana to appear before Parliament.
It wants them to provide the garnishee order, the full records of the underlying lawsuit, correspondence among the relevant state institutions and evidence showing the account debited for the GH¢350 million transfer.
The Minority has also requested an expedited special audit by the Auditor-General to trace the money from its original source to the account into which it was transferred and its eventual use.
The opposition warned that it could pursue a full parliamentary inquiry or seek constitutional interpretation from the Supreme Court if the requested records are not provided.
Beyond the dispute over the emergency allocation, the Minority has challenged the government’s explanation for delays affecting the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development project.
The caucus claims the government is relying on court proceedings to conceal administrative and institutional failures in addressing Accra’s recurring flooding problem.
The government, however, maintains that the budget reallocations were necessary to provide humanitarian assistance, restore damaged infrastructure and strengthen flood-mitigation measures across affected communities.
Source: Omanghana
