Public Accounts Committee Flags GH¢5.2 Billion in Irregularities as Auditor-General Withdraws High-Profile Special Audit Reports

Ghana’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has uncovered GH¢5.2 billion in financial irregularities within Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) for the 2025 financial year, with a staggering GH¢4.8 billion attributed to tax-related infractions. PAC Chairperson Abena Osei-Asare expressed grave concern over recurring breaches, signaling a strategic shift in the committee's approach. Moving forward, the PAC intends to move beyond merely identifying errors, focusing instead on whether public institutions have implemented previous audit recommendations to prevent systematic financial mismanagement. This announcement comes as the committee intensifies its scrutiny of state institutions to ensure stricter compliance with financial regulations and proper resource management.

In a significant development during the hearings, the Auditor-General formally withdrew two high-profile special audit reports concerning the Ghana Embassy in Washington, DC, and the 13th All African Games. The PAC has subsequently suspended consideration of these documents until they are corrected and officially resubmitted. The withdrawn embassy report reportedly detailed irregular financial transactions amounting to approximately US$19.38 million, including unauthorized fees, while the All African Games audit highlighted procurement irregularities exceeding GH¢579 million. Chairperson Osei-Asare emphasized that these reports will remain off the legislative agenda until the Auditor-General provides authorized, corrected versions.

The committee also interrogated the Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) over the processing of GH¢14.88 million in payment vouchers outside the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS). While a ministry representative attributed the breach to complications with budget codes for donor-funded transactions, the PAC warned that continued non-compliance would be viewed as a deliberate failure to implement corrective measures. This scrutiny aligns with calls from Francis Asenso-Boakye, Ranking Member of the Committee on Local Government and Decentralisation, who urged Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to stop allowing the same audit irregularities to recur annually. He stressed that audit findings must lead to meaningful institutional reforms rather than becoming routine documentations of waste.

Efforts to bolster internal accountability are beginning to emerge in other sectors, as seen with the National Labour Commission (NLC) inaugurating a new nine-member Audit Committee. Chaired by Josephine Opoku-Agyemang, the committee is tasked with enhancing financial prudence and implementing audit recommendations internally to avoid the need for PAC intervention. As the PAC continues its review of the 2025 Auditor-General’s report, the overarching message to public officials remains clear: the focus has shifted from simple identification of infractions to a demand for verifiable corrective action and the permanent closure of loopholes that facilitate financial leakage.