President Akufo-Addo wants the yet-to-be inaugurated Board of Trustees of the Covid-19 Trust Fund to pay special attention to the needy and vulnerable in society.
He believes it is the best way to expend resources to be generated from the contributions of individuals and corporate bodies for victims of pandemic.
The eight-member Board is Chaired by former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, with Archbishop Justice Akrofi, former Anglican Bishop of Accra and former Archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa, Jude Kofi Bucknor, Gifty Afenyi Dadzie, Elsie Addo Awadzi, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Ofori Sarpong, Chief Executive Officer of the Special Ice Group of Companies, Dr. Abdul-Sameed Tanko as members whiles Dr. Collins Asare will serve as the Secretary to the Board.
At a meeting with members of the Board at the Jubilee House yesterday, the President said “you have been put together for this exercise essentially to compliment the efforts the government and the State is making over this crisis especially with a particular focus on the consideration that have to be made for the needy and the vulnerable; whatever monies we raise, that is the target.”
He assured the nominees of government support in the discharge of their duties, saying “the machinery of government will be aligned to be able to support you for the work that you will be doing.”
The President therefore urged the Bank of Ghana (BOG) to support the Board of Trustees to open Bank Accounts in selected banks in which potential contributors both home and abroad can make their donations to guarantee proper accountability of all funds realized.
On her part, Chairperson of the proposed Covid-19 Trust Fund and former Chief Justice Justice, Sophia Akuffo accepted the challenge given them by the President and the State, with a promise to work very hard to mitigate the likely effect on the target group for the setting up of the fund.
“We undertake to bear the charge you have placed on us with full integrity and efficiency so as to make sure that all our outcomes are transparent; they are quality and they fulfil the purpose for which the Trust is being set up”, she pledged
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent