The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has decisively escalated the fight against public sector corruption, officially referring three key infractions from the Auditor-General’s reports to the Attorney General (AG) for immediate criminal prosecution.
The move marks a significant shift in Parliament’s approach, transitioning from mere administrative sanctions to aggressive criminal action against officials implicated in financial misconduct.
Speaking on Friday, November 7, 2025, PAC Chairperson Mrs Abena Osei-Asare confirmed the development following the committee’s recent public hearings.
“Now I can confidently say that we have made three referrals officially to the Attorney General… we are working with the AG’s office to make sure he also does the needful as we all try as much as possible to help.”
Mrs. Osei-Asare emphasised that the action is not merely punitive but a necessary effort to ensure public officials “effectively carry out his or her mandates.”
The three referred cases, which include offenses such as procurement breaches, unrecovered funds (unearned salaries/unretired imprest), or unauthorized payments, represent cases where the culpable officials have shown deliberate non-compliance with PAC’s directives to rectify the audit findings.
This latest action aligns with the PAC’s increasingly stringent stance on financial discipline.
Only days prior, the committee signalled its commitment by referring at least 12 public entities—including major institutions like the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH)—to the AG for failing to recover millions of Ghana Cedis in unauthorised funds within a 30-day deadline.
The decision to send cases to the AG is based on the premise that wilful non-compliance with the PAC, a constitutional body, constitutes an offence warranting criminal proceedings, specifically under the Public Financial Management Act.
The referrals highlight the enormous financial infractions regularly exposed by the Auditor-General’s Annual Reports.
While the precise amount tied to these three specific referrals remains confidential pending parliamentary action, cumulative financial irregularities in Ghana’s Public Boards, Corporations, and Statutory Institutions often total billions of Ghana Cedis annually.
- In recent years, the Ghana Audit Service (GAS) has reported successes, including helping to facilitate the recovery of substantial sums. However, the consistent occurrence of losses remains a grave concern.
- The Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, continues to use constitutional powers to “disallow” illegal expenditures and “surcharge” the responsible persons, but the PAC’s referrals now pave the way for a more potent deterrent: criminal conviction and imprisonment.
- The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has also called for increased resources to aid in the prosecution of such complex financial crimes, indicating a collaborative, multi-agency effort is underway to clean up the public purse.
The PAC’s report, including the recommendation for these three prosecutions, will now be formally laid before Parliament for confirmation.
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