President John Dramani Mahama has revealed plans to host a top-level gathering on Thursday, October 9, involving the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, and other prominent figures in the justice system to develop a concrete plan for tackling the ongoing misappropriation of public finances.
Addressing attendees at the 12th Annual Conference of Chairpersons of Governing Boards and Councils, Chief Directors, and Chief Executives under the Public Services Commission in Ho, Mr. Mahama voiced serious concern about the repeated financial violations highlighted by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the absence of meaningful consequences.
“Recently, I’ve been watching the Public Accounts Committee, and it’s so pathetic,” he lamented. “Why must we, every year, congregate at PAC and hear all kinds of atrocious things — recklessness with public funds and resources?”
The President underscored the necessity for a firmer stance to discourage civil servants from misusing government resources, advocating for what he termed a “fast-track process to Nsawam,” alluding to Ghana’s principal prison facility.
“Until we do that, until there’s a deterrent, we’ll continue to come every year and talk about total misappropriation and infractions,” he said, citing a staggering GH¢15 billion in financial losses uncovered in recent audits. “Can you imagine what 15 billion cedis could do for this country?”
Mr. Mahama also denounced the lack of enforcement of constitutional mandates requiring Parliament to act on the Auditor-General’s recommendations, pointing out that the procedure remains vague and largely ineffective.
“There’s a provision that says after the Public Accounts Committee has sat on the Auditor-General’s report, Parliament must set up a committee to implement the findings. But we don’t even know if it should be a parliamentary committee or a separate one,” he observed.
He further criticized the poor performance of Audit Report Implementation Committees (ARICs) within various government agencies, noting that most fail to follow through on PAC’s directives.
“Virtually nobody follows up on what recommendations were given. The ARICs are not working,” he said.
President Mahama stressed the pressing need to establish a robust accountability framework that imposes genuine repercussions on officials who mishandle or abuse public assets.
“We must find a way to create a deterrent until people know that they can be held responsible for their actions. If not, they’ll continue to do the same things,” he warned.
He affirmed that the discussions scheduled for Thursday would result in actionable changes, including well-defined legal pathways to prosecute offenders and dismantle the prevailing culture of impunity in public service.
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