PAC raises alarm over GH¢5.2bn financial irregularities in MDAs
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has expressed concern over the recurrence of financial irregularities in state institutions, following the identification of breaches amounting to GH¢5.2 billion in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for 2025.
Tax-related infractions accounted for GH¢4.8 billion of the total amount, prompting the Committee to demand explanations on measures being taken to address the lapses and prevent their recurrence.
Opening the Committee’s sitting on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, its Chairperson, Abena Osei-Asare, said the persistent nature of the findings was particularly troubling.
She noted that several institutions continue to be cited for similar control weaknesses in successive audit reports, raising questions about whether recommendations from previous audits were being implemented.
“A legitimate concern of the Ghanaian public is that many other findings appear year after year,” she said.
According to Mrs Osei-Asare, the repeated appearance of the same institutions over identical breaches indicated that the issue could no longer be treated as isolated audit findings.
“If the same institution is cited repeatedly for the same control failure, then we are no longer dealing with just audit findings. We are dealing with a failure to learn. We are now going to ask what changed because of the audit. So that is what audit should be telling us what changed or what has changed as a result of the audit,” she added.
She said the Committee would therefore place greater emphasis on the corrective actions taken by institutions following previous audit observations.
The PAC Chairperson stressed that the Committee did not want a situation where public institutions repeatedly appeared before Parliament to explain the same weaknesses without demonstrating that steps had been taken to resolve them.
She said the hearings would instead seek to establish what had changed within institutions as a direct result of previous audit findings and recommendations.
Two special audit reports withdrawn
Meanwhile, the Committee will not consider two special audit reports that had been expected to form part of its proceedings.
The reports, covering the 13th All African Games and the Ghana Embassy in Washington, DC, have been withdrawn by the Auditor-General.
As a result, the Committee will not proceed with consideration of the two reports.