A special audit of Ghana’s unpaid debts has uncovered a massive GH¢21.35 billion fraud against state coffers, comprising suspicious, duplicate, and fictitious claims.
The government has vowed to prosecute those responsible for what it describes as the “systemic plunder” of public funds.
The audit revealed GH¢68.7 billion in unpaid claims (invoices and payment certificates) submitted to the Ministry of Finance. Only GH¢45.4 billion was deemed valid for payment.
An amount of GH¢8.1 billion was outrightly rejected due to irregularities like lack of documentation, duplications, and claims for work not done. A further GH¢13.26 billion requires justification before any payment can be made.
Major irregularities uncovered an amount of GH¢89.4 million claim for interest payments under the 1D1F programme, which was found to be entirely fictitious, as the named banks confirmed they were owed nothing.
Missing supplies include 10,000 tonnes of rice (paid for by the government) went missing from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s (MoFA) dry spell relief programme.
MoFA claimed delivery of 100,000 tonnes of maize worth GH¢771.2 million, but only 11,900 tonnes were actually supplied.
The audit also revealed that a transport company was overpaid by millions for work not done under the farmer relief programme.
Again, a staggering GH¢4.4 billion in claims that had already been paid between 2020 and 2024 were fraudulently resubmitted.
The Ministry of Roads and Highways topped this list with GH¢3.6 billion in recycled claims.
The Ministry of Defence submitted a receipt for undelivered border surveillance vehicles, and the Judicial Service submitted a receipt for cars that a supplier later admitted they could not provide.
A GH¢160 million claim for unpaid teacher trainee allowances was debunked, and the National Service Scheme overstated its arrears by GH¢334.5 million.
The government has referred the Auditor-General’s report to the Attorney-General for the prosecution of all individuals involved.
The Finance Minister stated that the findings expose a “rotten system” and announced that a forensic audit would be conducted on the entire 1D1F scheme.
They have pledged that going forward, no payments will be made without full verification.
