Former Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo has called for the immediate suspension, investigation and prosecution of public officials identified in Ghana’s most damaging government audit in years, after a special review of state arrears submitted to Parliament on March 10 exposed GH¢21.35 billion in fictitious, duplicated and unsupported claims against the public purse.
Out of GH¢68.7 billion in Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs), invoices and Bank Transfer Advices (BTAs) submitted to the Ministry of Finance as unpaid debts owed to contractors and suppliers, the Ghana Audit Service (GAS), working alongside international firms EY and PwC, validated only GH¢45.4 billion for payment. A further GH¢8.1 billion was outright rejected due to unsupported documentation, duplications, overstatements and claims for work never done. An additional GH¢13.3 billion remains under scrutiny pending adequate documentation.
Delivering the findings to Parliament on behalf of Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem described the report as exposing a system designed to “fleece the people of Ghana,” saying the findings painted a picture of a “rotten system” of systemic plunder and abuse of public financial management.
Among the most alarming findings, auditors identified GH¢4.4 billion in claims that had already been paid between 2020 and 2024 and were being fraudulently resubmitted for payment. The Ministry of Roads and Highways topped that list with GH¢3.6 billion in recycled claims, followed by the Ministry of Health at GH¢384.8 million and the Ministry of Energy at GH¢216.7 million. Duplicated and overstated claims from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) added a further GH¢1.4 billion.
A separate section of the report flagged GH¢89.4 million submitted under the One District One Factory (1D1F) programme as fictitious debts. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) featured prominently in a food supply scandal: the government paid for 34,000 tonnes of rice to address the 2024 dry spell, but MoFA received and distributed only 24,000 tonnes, leaving 10,000 fully paid-for tonnes unaccounted for. In a separate transaction, MoFA submitted documentation claiming delivery of 100,000 tonnes of maize worth GH¢771.2 million, but the audit found only 11,900 tonnes was actually supplied. A transport contractor was also paid GH¢61.7 million for moving 35,000 tonnes of grain under a contract valued at GH¢30.9 million.
Domelevo, speaking across three separate platforms this week, framed the findings not as administrative failures but as deliberate criminal conduct requiring immediate consequences. “Public officials who approved questionable payments must be suspended and investigated,” he said on JoyFM’s Newsnight on March 11, adding that the scale and pattern of the irregularities pointed to “criminal intent to manipulate records to steal money or conceal indebtedness.”
He argued that administrative action must precede and not wait for parliamentary deliberations. “Administrative sanctions alone send a clear signal to Ghanaians that malfeasance will not be overlooked,” he said, urging President John Dramani Mahama to immediately suspend any official regardless of rank found responsible for processing illegitimate claims.
On the legal framework, Domelevo called for the passage of the long-stalled Conduct of Public Office Holders (CPOH) bill, including lifestyle audit provisions and unexplained wealth orders, saying Ghana’s current laws are structurally tilted in favour of those who misappropriate public funds. He also called for specialised courts dedicated to corruption cases, with defined timelines for trials to ensure prosecutions are concluded within a reasonable period rather than grinding to a halt through procedural delays.
He also condemned the practice of reshuffling implicated officials into other government positions, saying offenders should face dismissal or suspension rather than lateral transfers that allow them to continue in the public service.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the Attorney-General’s Department and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee are all expected to engage with the report in the coming weeks.
