The Ministry of Finance has dismissed allegations that it bypassed sector ministries to settle contract payments under the government’s GH¢68 billion arrears audit report without full disclosure to the affected institutions.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday, officials from the Ministry of Finance insisted that all relevant stakeholders, including the Bank of Ghana and the respective Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), were kept informed of the settlements.
This defense follows a startling revelation from the Ministry of Roads and Highways regarding a GH¢26 million payment flagged in the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
The Director of Finance at the Roads Ministry, Emmanuel Mammara, told the Committee that the payment was made without their knowledge. He further alleged that efforts to obtain clarifying details from the Finance Ministry were unsuccessful.
”The payments were made on our blind side,” Mammara stated during the hearing, highlighting a perceived lack of transparency in how the GH¢68 billion debt portfolio is being managed.
However, the Finance Ministry has countered this narrative, maintaining that no payments were made in a vacuum and that all procedural protocols for inter-departmental communication were followed.
Fisheries Ministry Admits Oversight
In a related development, officials from the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, appearing before the Public Accounts Committee made several admissions regarding administrative lapses identified in the audit report.
The Committee’s inquiry into the GH¢68 billion arrears continues, as it seeks to reconcile the discrepancies between the Finance Ministry’s records and the accounts provided by the various MDAs.
Story by: Eugenia Ewoenam Osei
