Emergency fund blocked, but we found money – Ato Forson reveals how gov’t raised ¢350m for flood response

Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has revealed that government had to rely on an alternative source of funding after the country’s main constitutional emergency fund was blocked by a High Court garnishee order.“Unfortunately, when I got that approval and instructed the Controller and Accountant General to transfer same to the disaster management committee, we found out that the account, the constitutional fund, the only emergency fund that this republic has, has been garnisheed by a high court order.“That fund is under the control of the Finance Committee of Parliament, and so when you create that money, and you pay into that money, when there is an emergency, you have to go to the Finance Committee as Minister of Finance to get approval before you can take money from that contingency fund,” he explained.