The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Ghana's Parliament has grilled the Central Regional Coordinating Council over payment irregularities amounting to GH¢14.88 million. The Committee was informed that the council processed payment vouchers outside the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), contrary to regulations. This issue emerged during the Committee's sitting on October 6, 2026, as it considered the Auditor-General's 2025 report on Ministries, Departments, and other Agencies. The audit finding revealed that the council failed to process payment vouchers totalling GH¢14,882,540.98 through GIFMIS.
According to the audit finding, the transactions involved donor funds, which were subsequently captured through journal vouchers. A representative of the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs explained to the Committee that the transactions were part of the approved budget, with the donor components captured during the budget process. However, the representative admitted that an issue with the budget code required to process the transactions through GIFMIS led to the irregularities. The Committee was assured that subsequent transactions had been processed through GIFMIS, and journal vouchers were used to capture earlier transactions that had not gone through the system.
Committee members questioned why the transactions had initially been processed outside GIFMIS, with one member stressing that donor funds were still public funds. The representative explained that the problem arose from an issue with the budget code, but this did not alleviate the Committee's concerns. The Chairperson of the Committee, Abena Osei-Asare, emphasized that the concern was not only about the transactions already identified but also whether the system had since been corrected.
Abena Osei-Asare warned the council that if the same breach was identified in a subsequent audit, it would regard it as evidence that the institution had failed to implement the corrective measures it claimed to have introduced. She stressed that institutions must show what had changed after previous audit findings, rather than repeatedly appearing before the Committee with explanations for the same weaknesses.
The Chairperson's position aligns with her earlier statement at the opening of the 2025 audit hearings, where she emphasized that institutions must demonstrate implementation of audit recommendations and correction of weak systems. The Committee will distinguish between administrative infractions and actual financial losses while requiring institutions to show whether audit recommendations have been implemented.
The Central Regional Coordinating Council's representative maintained that subsequent transactions had been processed through GIFMIS and that journal vouchers had been used to capture earlier transactions that had not gone through the system. The Committee's probe aims to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.
The Public Accounts Committee's scrutiny of the Central Regional Coordinating Council reflects its efforts to ensure that public institutions adhere to financial regulations and manage public funds responsibly. The Committee's warnings and follow-up actions are expected to encourage institutions to implement corrective measures and prevent similar irregularities in the future.
Key points
- The Central Regional Coordinating Council processed payment vouchers totalling GH¢14.88 million outside GIFMIS.
- The transactions involved donor funds, which were subsequently captured through journal vouchers.
- The Public Accounts Committee warned the council that repeated breaches would be regarded as evidence of failure to implement corrective measures.
