The Ranking Member on Parliament‘s Works and Housing Committee, Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah, has questioned the Finance Minister‘s explanation that a court order freezing Ghana’s constitutional contingency fund prevented government from accessing emergency resources to respond to recent flooding in Accra.
According to the Suame Member of Parliament, the explanation is surprising and appears inconsistent with earlier assurances given by government regarding its emergency response to the floods.
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His comments follow the presentation of the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, who disclosed that government’s efforts to access the constitutional contingency fund had been frustrated because the account had been garnisheed under a court order.
The Finance Minister described the contingency fund as Ghana’s only constitutionally established emergency fund and expressed concern that its unavailability had limited government’s ability to respond swiftly to disasters.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse, Mr Mensah Korsah questioned how Cabinet could have approved emergency flood interventions without being aware that the contingency fund was legally inaccessible.
“That’s quite a big surprise. The aftermath of the rains and the subsequent overwhelming flooding that we saw, every step that the government took, we in Parliament were made to believe, was as a result of a government emergency response born out of Cabinet deliberations,” he said.
He argued that if Cabinet had authorised the interventions, it was difficult to understand how ministers, particularly the Attorney-General as government’s chief legal adviser, were unaware of the court order affecting the fund.
“If the Cabinet of Ghana could convene and brainstorm on measures to mitigate subsequent floods and decided to assess money from the contingency fund and it never occurred to Cabinet, of which the chief legal advisor to the President, Attorney-General, is a member, and they did not know that the contingency fund had a garnishee order, then it’s quite strange. Absolutely strange,” he stated.
Mr Mensah Korsah said the development raises concerns about coordination among government ministries and agencies responsible for disaster management.
“I don’t even know then how these agencies or departments or ministries of government are coordinating to work,” he said, adding that the explanation suggested a lack of synergy within government.
He further maintained that the Attorney-General’s presence in Cabinet should have ensured ministers were fully informed about the legal status of the contingency fund before announcing emergency measures.
“There is no way the Attorney-General who sits in Cabinet, chief legal advisor, wouldn’t have known the state of this contingency fund. And for you to have come to the Parliament of Ghana, spoken to the whole country, outlined these measures only for us to be told that you went and you couldn’t access the money. How are you working as a government?” he asked.
GARID project
The Ranking Member also rejected claims by the Finance Minister that the previous Akufo-Addo administration had mismanaged the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project.
He described the allegations as “complete falsehoods” and accused government officials of presenting conflicting accounts in public and before Parliament.
According to him, World Bank implementation reports issued in September 2024 and May 2025 did not identify any misuse of project funds by the previous administration.
“At nowhere does the World Bank find any wrongdoing or misuse of money. No, you don’t find it anywhere,” he said.
Instead, he argued that the reports pointed to delays by the Ministry of Finance in releasing funds needed for implementation of the flood mitigation project.
“One would have thought that the Finance Ministry would eat a humble pie and get to fix this problem. Rather, when the World Bank report indicts them for sitting on money and not releasing funds for GARID to be completed, they rather turn their backs on propaganda,” he stated.
Mr Mensah Korsah also disclosed that during a recent meeting of Parliament’s Works and Housing Committee involving officials from the Ministries of Finance, Works and Housing, and Sanitation, no allegations of financial impropriety concerning the GARID project were raised.
He explained that discussions focused on consultant payments under the World Bank-funded programme, noting that project components cannot be altered without the lender’s approval because of the strict implementation framework governing World Bank-financed projects.
The debate over government’s flood response has intensified following the recent floods in parts of Accra, with renewed calls for improved drainage infrastructure, timely release of project funds and stronger coordination among institutions responsible for disaster prevention and emergency response.
