By Binta Jaiteh
The National Audit Office (NAO) said phases one and two of its COVID-19 audit have revealed instances of non-compliance with relevant laws and regulations in the distribution of food and medical items.
“As highlighted in Phase 1 of the Covid-19 audit, there were instances in the Phase 2 audit where the distribution of food and medical items did not comply with relevant laws and regulations. Issues of non-compliance were regular and took place across all elements of the Government covid response,” NAO said in its phases one and two Covid audits.
Meanwhile, some health ministry officials have contended that as a health emergency, Covid -19 has presented government challenges that it wasn’t able to follow laws and regulations in its food and medical supplies distribution.
However, according to NAO, proper procedures must be followed emergencies notwithstanding.
NAO said: “Proper procedures as set out in law should be followed in emergency situations, even though it may be necessary to relax some rules based on the experience from the initial pandemic response.
However, this cannot be used as an excuse for the repeated breaches of laws and regulations included in this report. These breaches of laws and regulations have led to a significant waste of resources and likely undermine the overall effectiveness of the response to the pandemic.”
It pointed out that there was no equitable distribution of food items to vulnerable households and it could not ascertain whether the Covid-19 funds are accounted for in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and queried whether the funds were judiciously utilized for their intended purpose.
NAO findings also showed that vulnerable households in West Coast Region were inappropriately identified. It said some households did not benefit from the relief package while an estimated D752,725 worth of food items was damaged during the distribution.