Rt. Hon. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to make this statement on a matter that is very important to this Republic.

This is a report on the systemic plunder and abuse of the public financial management system. By the time I am done with this presentation, it will become clear that something needed to be done to save our economy.

Rt. Hon. Speaker, the Minister for Finance informed this august House during the mid-year review of the 2025 Budget of the ongoing audit of Government arrears and commitments as at end-2024 and promised to submit same to this House when the process is completed.

The Ghana Audit Service, working in partnership with EY and PwC, undertook an exercise to verify and validate a total of GH¢68.7 billion submitted to the Ministry of Finance in unpaid Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs), invoices and Bank Transfer Advices (BTAs) owed to contractors and suppliers.

Out of this, outstanding IPCs and Invoices amounted to GH¢50.5 billion, while outstanding Bank Transfer Advices (BTAs) amounted to GH¢18.3 billion.

FINDINGS

Rt. Hon. Speaker, permit me to present some of the troubling findings of the audit:

1. Out of the GH¢68.7 billion submitted for audit, a total of GH¢45.4 billion was deemed to be valid for payment;
2. A total of GH¢8.1 billion was rejected for various reasons, including unsupported documentation, duplication, overstatements, already-paid items, falsified store receipts, advice and no work done;
3. About GH¢1 billion of the outstanding BTAs, which refers to invoices and IPCs processed by MDAs in 2024, approved by the Ministry of Finance, submitted to the Controller and Accountant Generals’ Department (CAGD) and pending payment, were rejected; Rt. Hon. Speaker, this GH¢1 billion that was rejected by the audit would have been paid if the Ministry of Finance had not made a bold decision to stop payments in January 2025;
4. About GH¢7.1 billion of the outstanding IPCs and invoices, which refers to requests by MDAs for payments to suppliers and contractors, and certified for payment by various public officers across the approval hierarchies, have also been rejected. They were rejected for various reasons, including absence of supporting documents, duplications, recycled invoices and IPCs, overstatements, and no work done;
5. Again, an amount of GH¢13.3 billion is yet to be validated for various reasons, including lack of third-party confirmation, inadequate documentation, and no supporting contracts.

Table 1: SUMMARY OF AUDIT FINDINGS
Details	Amount submitted by MoF for audit	Amount Validated for payment	Amount Rejected	Amount to be justified before payment
IPCs & Invoices	50,488,960,229	29,176,149,128	7,086,084,670	12,212,540,410
BTAs	18,278,835,591	16,227,987,008	992,551,184	1,055,697,399
Grand Total	68,767,795,820	45,404,136,136	8,078,635,854	13,268,237,809
NB: An amount of GH¢2,016,786,022 was reclassified from claims and BTAs to commitments

Mr. Speaker, permit me to highlight some details of these significant findings.

FINDINGS FROM BANK TRANSFER ADVICE (BTAS)

Fictitious Debt of GH¢89.4 million – The then Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2024 submitted a request of GH¢89.4 million to the Ministry of Finance to be transferred to five commercial banks as government contribution to interest payments under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative.

The Ministry of Finance subsequently processed same to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department for payment.

This particular request was part of BTAs sitting at the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, awaiting cash for payment.

When auditors contacted these five banks to confirm the liability, every single one of them denied being owed any amount by the government under the said arrangement.

According to the Auditors, the said GH¢89.4 million debt was fictitious. Without the audit intervention, a whopping GH¢89.4 million of hard-earned public money could have been disbursed to settle this non-existent liability.

Mr. Speaker, only God knows how much of taxpayers' money has been lost to similar fictitious claims.

Rt. Hon. Speaker, payment of GH¢10.5 million was recorded as having been made into an account named the “Buffer Account” at a commercial bank.

Upon verification, the bank confirmed that it had never received such payment. The account number cited did not exist within the bank’s records and did not even conform to its account numbering format.

The evidence from the audit pointed to a completely fictitious account.

Mr. Speaker, as a result of these fictitious accounts linked to One District, One Factory payments, the entire 1D1F scheme requires a forensic audit, which will be carried out soon. Moreso when Government is said to have spent GH¢391 million as its contribution towards 1D1F interest subsidies as at the end of 2024.

THE DRY SPELL EXPENDITURE

Mr. Speaker, in 2024, the Government of Ghana paid for 34,000MT of rice to address the impact of the dry spell.

However, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture received and distributed 24,000MT of rice. To date, 10,000MT remains unaccounted for even though the entire quantity has been fully paid for.

The Audit revealed that the Government of Ghana also contracted a company to supply 100,000MT of maize. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture submitted stores receipt advice as evidence of delivery of the 100,000MT maize worth GH¢771.2 million to Ministry of Finance for payment, but only 11,900MT was supplied and distributed.

It is worth noting that the stores receipt advice was supported by a checklist that was certified by the internal auditor of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

OVER PAYMENTS FOR TRANSPORTATION OF GRAINS

Under the Farmer Food Relief and Recovery Programme, a transportation company was contracted to transport 134,000 metric tonnes of maize and rice to farmers across the country at a contract sum of GH¢115.2 million.

Even though the company transported only 35,000 metric tonnes, which should have cost GH¢30.9 million, the company was paid GH¢50 million.

In addition to this payment, the company was given 7,311 metric tonnes of rice, equivalent to 14,622 bags of 50kg rice, which amounts to GH¢11.7 million in lieu of cash for no work done. This brings total payment to GH¢61.7 million.

As a result, the Auditor-General accordingly rejected an amount of GH¢65.2 million that was requested by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as additional payment to the said transport company.

THE UNFOUNDED TEACHER TRAINEE ARREARS

The Ministry of Education reported unpaid allowances totalling GH¢160 million to teacher trainees under the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).

When auditors engaged GTEC, the agency confirmed that as of December 2024, there were no outstanding arrears. Over GH¢159 million would have been lost, but for this audit.  

DUPLICATED ENTRIES UNDER THE EDUCATION MINISTRY –

Mr. Speaker, an amount of GH¢6.1 million appeared on the Ministry of Education’s BTA schedule at the CAGD, even though the same funds had already been paid by a donor partner.

Such entries opened a door for double payment and exposed a dangerous pattern of weak oversight, and porous coordination between donor and government financial records.

BANK TRANSFER ADVICES WITHOUT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Mr. Speaker, auditors identified BTAs totalling GH¢293 million for six MDAs with no documentation. There were no contracts, no IPCs, and no record of any executed work.

Mr. Speaker, the breakdown of the unsupported BTAs are as follows:

• Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) – GH¢ 241.2 million;

• Ministry of Roads and Highways – GH¢26.3 million;

• Judicial Service – GH¢18.2 million;

• Ministry of Special Initiatives – GH¢3.7 million;

• Ministry of Health – GH¢2.4 million; and

• Office of the Attorney-General & Ministry of Justice (OAGMOJ) – GH¢ 782,262.00.

FALSIFIED STORES RECEIPT ADVICES INTENDED FOR MISAPPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC FUNDS

Mr. Speaker, auditors uncovered transactions worth GH¢9.4 million supported by forged Stores Receipt Advices (SRAs) that had been used to justify requests for payment for goods that were not delivered at the time:

• Ministry of Defence – GH¢ 4.8 million

A contract between the Ministry of Defence and a company for vehicles intended for border surveillance and monitoring of the 2024 general election revealed that, despite the issuance of a Stores Receipt Advice (SRA) — an official document confirming that goods have been received — dated 12^th October 2024, the vehicles were never delivered; and

• Similarly, the Judicial Service appeared to be caught in a web of falsified Stores Receipt Advice (SRAs). While an SRA dated 25^th October, 2024 claimed the receipt of 7 Toyota saloon cars, as soon as the audit was initiated, the supplier wrote to the Judicial Service on 10^th April, 2025, indicating their inability to supply the said vehicles as scheduled.

This shows that fraudulent documents were submitted to the Ministry of Finance for payments and steps have been taken to avoid a recurrence.

Mr. Speaker, these cases illustrate a disturbing pattern of fraud designed to deprive the people of Ghana hundreds of millions of cedis of public funds at risk.

FINDINGS ON CLAIMS

Recycling of Already Paid IPCs/Invoices

Mr. Speaker, claims amounting to GH¢4.4 billion, which had already been paid between 2020 and 2024, were fraudulently resubmitted for payment.

These recycled claims originated from the following MDAs:

• Ministry of Roads and Highways- GH¢3.6 billion;
• Ministry of Health – GH¢384.8 million;
• Ministry of Energy – GH¢216.7 million;
• Ministry of Food and Agriculture – GH¢57 million;
• Ministry of Defence – GH¢40.9 million;
• Independent Power Producers – GH¢36.4 million;
• Ministry of Finance – GH¢26.4 million; and
• Ministry of Interior – GH¢3.1 million.

Mr. Speaker, but for our vigilance, the Ghanaian taxpayer would have lost a colossal GH¢4.4 billion in these recycled claims.

Rt. Hon. Speaker, one eye-opening finding of this audit was that MDAs did not have sufficient records of what they had contracted, what they had paid, and what was outstanding.

Shockingly, the Government of Ghana was at the mercy of contractors and suppliers to determine how much is owed to them.

This calls for an urgent review, redesign, and implementation of an appropriate PFM architecture to manage public funds.

Duplicated and Overstated Claims

Mr. Speaker, auditors identified duplicated and overstated claims by MDAs totalling GH¢1.4 billion.

1. These MDAs include:
2. Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs duplicated claims were to the tune of GH¢408.31 million;
3. Ministry of Energy duplicated claims were GH¢386.71 million;
4. The National Service Scheme alone overstated allowance arrears by GH¢334.5 million;
5. Ministry of Roads and Highways duplicated claims of GH¢125.65 million;
6. Ministry of Health duplicated claims amounted to GH¢114.2 million; and
7. NCCE duplicated claims was GH¢8.8 million.

EXPIRED CONTRACTS RECORDED AS FRESH LIABILITIES

The Ministry of Defence reported GH¢77.1 million as outstanding claims, for which IPCs and invoices were issued although the contract had expired and deliveries were not made.

OVERSTATED CLAIMS

Mr. Speaker, according to the Auditors, confirmation responses received indicated an overstatement in claims by GH¢161.98 million. 

These emanated from:

• Department of Urban Roads - GH¢57.01 million;
• Ministry of Transport - GH¢39.92 million;
• Department of Feeder Roads - GH¢ 22.46 million;
• Ministry of Food and Agriculture - GH¢20.08 million;
• Ghana Highways Authority - GH¢17.50 million; and
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs - GH¢2.68 million.

AGENDA 111 

Mr. Speaker, the audit of Agenda 111 projects also revealed thata total amount of US$7.9 million was paid to 35 contractors as advance mobilisation under the programme, but these contractors have either failed to mobilise to the site or the work done is not commensurate with the amount paid. 

The advance mobilisation guarantees secured by the 35 contractors who received the US$7.9 million have all expired. The Auditor General has subsequently issued notices of surcharge to the offending contractors.

CONCLUSION

Mr. Speaker, this audit has exposed a rotten system designed to fleece the people of Ghana.

It reveals not just lapses in our public financial management architecture, but a pervasive and systemic plunder of the public purse. A culture marked by:

1. the fabrication of fictitious claims;
2. the resubmission of recycled invoices;
3. the forgery of stores receipt advice; and
4. the treatment of public funds as personal entitlement rather than public trust.

The Mahama administration refuses to accept this rotten system, in fact, we refuse to normalise waste. And we refuse to ask the Ghanaian people to pay for fraud.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister for Finance has formally referred the report of the Auditor-General to the Attorney-General to bring to account those responsible for this rape of the public purse.

Those who abused their offices, colluded with contractors, falsified records, or attempted to loot the public purse through the back door will be held to account.

Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Finance, will no longer serve as a rubber stamp for weak controls and falsified claims.

GOING FORWARD, NO PAYMENT WILL BE MADE WITHOUT FULL VERIFICATION, NO COMMITMENT WILL BE ENTERED INTO WITHOUT BUDGETARY ALLOCATION, AND NO OFFICER, REGARDLESS OF RANK, WILL BE SHIELDED FROM ACCOUNTABILITY.

This moment marks a decisive break from the past. A reset of public financial management. A declaration that discipline has returned to the centre of fiscal and economic governance.

Mr. Speaker, the Ghanaian people demand accountability.

And under the Government of H.E President Mahama, that demand will be met with action.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.