The Ministry of Finance has firmly denied allegations that it authorised payments on behalf of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) without proper disclosure, pushing back against concerns raised in a recent GHC68 billion arrears audit report.
In a strong rebuttal, the Ministry insisted that all relevant parties, including the affected MDAs and the Bank of Ghana, were fully informed of all payments and bond issuances used to settle government arrears.
The controversy surfaced during a Public Accounts Committee hearing in Parliament on Thursday, April 2, where officials examined claims that some payments were made without the knowledge of beneficiary ministries.
Emmanuel Mammara, Director of Finance at the Ministry of Roads and Highways, told the committee that his ministry had repeatedly sought but failed to obtain payment details from the Finance Ministry.
He alleged that certain contractors, including some owed more than GHC2 million, were paid without his ministry’s awareness and were not included in its own records of payment submissions.
However, the Finance Ministry strongly refuted those claims, stating that the Ministry of Roads and Highways, along with other stakeholders, was copied on all relevant correspondence.
Supporting documents presented by the Finance Ministry indicated that multiple institutions were included in communications regarding bond issuances for arrears settlement.
The Ministry stressed that no payments were made in secrecy and that all due processes were strictly followed.
