President John Dramani Mahama has pledged to take action against individuals implicated in financial irregularities identified in the Auditor-General’s reports. He warned that those found guilty will be required to refund misappropriated funds or face imprisonment. Speaking at a diaspora town hall meeting in the United Kingdom on Sunday, May 31, President Mahama expressed concern over the ongoing financial losses highlighted in successive Auditor-General’s reports, calling them a significant drain on the country’s resources.
He noted that the recurring issues reflect deep-rooted weaknesses in public financial management and accountability. “Every year, you hear the Auditor-General’s report, and Ghana loses 12 billion cedis due to misappropriations,” he stated. The President also mentioned that the Chief Justice has set up specialized audit courts to address these issues. He emphasised that the establishment of these courts is an important step toward ensuring that violations identified in audits result in meaningful consequences, going beyond mere parliamentary scrutiny.
He explained that individuals cited in audit reports will no longer only appear before the Public Accounts Committee but will also face legal action aimed at recovering lost funds and holding offenders accountable. President Mahama stressed that the Attorney-General and the Auditor-General will work together to prosecute cases arising from audit findings and pursue the recovery of public funds.
“The Attorney General and the Auditor General are going to take out all the people who have misappropriated, and we’re putting them in front of those special courts to either refund our money or proceed to NSAWAM and go and catch some rest there,” he noted. His remarks come amid renewed public attention on financial accountability following recent sittings of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, where several cases of irregular expenditure and financial mismanagement were scrutinised.
Among them was a directive ordering officials of the Ho Municipal Assembly to refund GH¢138,000 within 60 days over audit-related infractions.
Source: Patricia Boakye
