Finance Ministry and 4 other ministries that owe ‘big’ money

The report which cites infractions in many governmental institutions; ministries, departments and other agencies, was prepared under Section 11 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584) for presentation to Parliament in accordance with Section 20 of the Act.

The A-G’s report which covers the period from January 2021 to December 2021 among other things, indicated that the overall financial impact of weaknesses and irregularities identified in the course of my audit amounted to GH¢1,080,913,824.

The report signed by Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu – Auditor General also named several infractions and irregularities under some ministries.

In this piece, GhanaWeb lists 5 ministries named by the A-G’s report as having been involved in some irregularities and the amounts involved.

This list is only a fraction of all 22 ministries named in the Auditor General’s department.

Finance Ministry:

The Auditor-General’s report discovered that the Finance Ministry failed to recover some loans, garnished 5 accounts under the ministry and paid some staff whose employment records couldn’t be traced to the ministry.

Here are the details:

– Ministry of Finance failed to recover loans and advances of GH¢11,005,582.00 given to public sector workers within the stipulated period.

– Three persons were paid a total of GH¢1,112,895.96 as salaries for the period January 2020 to December 2021, but we could not trace their personal files and names on the nominal roll of the Ministry.

– Five accounts of the Ministry were garnished in 2021 as a result of cases brought against other government institutions. The garnishee order resulted in the accounts not being accessible to the Ministry.

– The Treasury and Debt Management office under the ministry approved and paid Bloomberg Finance LP, a non-resident person, in respect of service charges for the use of their terminals and buyout fees but failed to withhold tax of GH¢70,102.68. 86.

– The Ministry of Finance’s Sub Consolidated Fund and Chief Director’s Bank Accounts were garnished by a court in July 2021. We also noted that in March 2022, three other Accounts of the Ministry, namely the Special Fiscal Programmes & Payments, Investor Relations Payments and Ghana Cares Accounts were also garnished and as a result the Ministry was unable to use the five accounts for any transactions.

Health Ministry:

Per the A-G’s report, some unsupported payments and unaccounted for revenue were noted at the ministry. There were other irregularities and some fraudulent activities noted by the A-G at institutions that fall under the health ministry including the NHIS and the Buipe Polyclinic.

– 24 BMCs under the Ministry did not present 245 payment vouchers used in paying GH¢1,791,264.67 for audit review.

– 40 BMCs paid a total amount of GH¢1,580,823.78 but failed to present the payment vouchers for audit.

– Six revenue collectors in six regions failed to account for revenue totalling GH¢240,895.48. 47.

– The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) owed 78 BMCs a total amount of GH¢51,404,084.38 for services rendered.

– We noted from our audit that 57 BMCs owed suppliers for drug and non-drug supplied totalling GH¢14,033,745.00. 51.

– 494 staff occupying the bungalows and flats of 13 BMCs owed rent totalling GH¢600,013.25. 53.

– Between January 2018 and April 2020, Osman Jamal-Deen (the former Accountant) forged the signature of the Medical Superintendent at the Buipe Polyclinic and withdrew GH¢430,009.54 from the Hospital’s account.

Education Ministry:

Under the Education Ministry, some irregularities were noted including the payment of unearned salaries and use of money without relevant supporting documents.

Here are the details:

Heads of Finance of 16 Institutions of Education paid a total amount of GH¢1,727,708.99 for various activities without adequate or relevant supporting documents.

88 staff who separated from their respective institutions were paid unearned salaries amounting to GH¢1,082,455.02.

Ministry of Justice and Attorney General:

The Ministry of Justice was found to have made deposits without relevant supporting documents as well as paid unearned salaries.

Here are the details:

A total amount of Gh¢1,394,384.98 was paid out of the Deposit accounts of Probate and Letters of Administration, General Jurisdiction, and Criminal Courts without relevant supporting documents.

The Institute paid unearned salary of GH¢10,758.35 to Ms Patricia Asante who resigned from the Institute in December 2019 for the period January 2020 to July 2020.

Food and Agriculture Ministry:

The disbursement of payment vouchers under this ministry were unaccounted for because of lack of relevant documents.

Here are the details:

A total amount of GH¢1,087,517.67 was disbursed by 15 Institutions on 114 payment vouchers for various activities without relevant supporting documents.

In 2020, the Hamile Sector Command paid GH¢320,800.00 for Operation Conquest Fist and imprest but failed to raise payment vouchers to support disbursement.