PAC orders CWSA to recover GH¢2.5m public debt within 30 days

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to recover GH¢2.5 million owed by public institutions for water supplied to them within 30 days.

The directive follows concerns over the agency’s limited success in recovering outstanding debts, which have accumulated over several years.

Appearing before the Committee on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, CWSA disclosed that customers owed the agency GH¢15,349,706 in outstanding water bills accumulated over approximately nine years.

The agency told the Committee that it had so far recovered GH¢1,158,093 of the total amount.

The PAC considered the recovery inadequate and ordered CWSA to specifically pursue GH¢2.5 million owed by public institutions within the 30-day period.

Committee Chairperson Abena Osei Asare described the directive as non-negotiable and instructed the agency to take concrete steps to recover the identified institutional debts.

Details presented to the Committee showed that 72 Ghana Police Service institutions had outstanding debts of GH¢235,898, while 60 hospitals owed GH¢472,970.29.

Fifty-six senior high schools were reported to owe GH¢978,280.25, with another 47 schools owing approximately GH¢186,000.

Government agencies and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) were also listed among the institutions with outstanding debts to CWSA.

The Committee questioned why the debts had been allowed to accumulate despite measures introduced by the agency to strengthen revenue mobilisation and improve collections.

CWSA officials said the agency had issued demand notices, conducted revenue mobilisation exercises, installed prepaid meters and introduced electronic payment systems as part of efforts to recover outstanding amounts.

They explained, however, that some of the debts were inherited from community-managed water systems and had accumulated over several years.

According to the officials, some of the inherited debt figures had yet to be validated.

The explanation prompted further questions from the Committee, which challenged the agency over why unvalidated debt figures had been submitted to the Auditor-General for audit.

The PAC also directed the sector Minister to use her office to pursue debts owed by larger public institutions.

The Committee further indicated that it expected significant progress in the recovery of the outstanding funds, stressing that the GH¢15 million debt should not reappear in the 2026 audit report.