Auditor-General pays GH¢9.5m into Consolidated Fund

The Auditor-General has transferred GH¢9.5 million, obtained from disallowed expenditures highlighted in various reports, into the Consolidated Fund.

This brings the total amount transferred to the Consolidated Fund to GH¢19.5 million during the 2023 fiscal year from the special account, known as the ‘Auditor-General’s Recoveries Account,’ established at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) in June 2022. As of the end of December 2023, the account had accumulated over GH19.7 million.

The funds recovered are associated with expenditure disallowances related to unearned salaries and other financial recoveries reported to Parliament through various Auditors-General’s reports.

Protecting public purse

The Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, revealed to Graphic Online/Daily Graphic in Accra last Wednesday that the dedicated account was established with the specific goal of safeguarding public funds. It serves to monitor the real-time progress of recoveries made through expenditure disallowances.

“The Auditor-General’s Recoveries Account was opened at the Bank of Ghana in June 2022, mainly to receive unearned salaries and allowances recovered,” he said. 

Mr Asiedu said that until June 2022, the Auditor-General’s recommendations for recoveries of unearned salaries had always been directed into the Controller and Accountant-General’s Suspense Account (CAGSA). However, he said the CAGSA could not provide real-time information on those recoveries, making efforts of enforce the rules on surcharging and disallowances appear to be yielding fewer positive results. 

“It is in the light of this that the Auditor-General’s Recoveries Account was opened to track and report on recoveries made in implementing audit recommendations with regard to unearned salaries and allowances,” Mr Asiedu said. 

Infractions

Each year, the Auditor-General’s reports to Parliament were often replete with issues of infractions in the use of public funds. 

Article 187(7)(b) of the 1992 Constitution provided that in the performance of its functions, the Auditor-General might disallow any item of expenditure which was contrary to law and surcharge the amount of any expenditure disallowed upon the person responsible for incurring or authorising the expenditure. 

Disallowance of expenditure normally leads to the Auditor-General recommending recovery from individuals, public officers and institutions that committed infractions. 

It was through the same process of disallowing expenditure contrary to law that the service recovered over GH¢2.2 billion between 2017 and 2020.

Timely reports

Mr. Asiedu mentioned that the Auditor-General’s Office had fulfilled the constitutional requirement by submitting 22 audit reports to Parliament in 2023. He highlighted that the effective measures implemented at the Audit Service under the current administration have consistently yielded positive outcomes.

This has facilitated the Auditor-General’s ability to submit audited reports to Parliament within the constitutional deadline for three consecutive years. As a result, 18 audit reports were presented in 2021, 15 reports in 2022, and 22 reports in 2023, underscoring the significance of timely production of audited reports.

Appreciation

The Auditor-General expressed appreciation to the government and the Minister of Finance for the timely release of funds to the Audit Service to facilitate the discharge of its constitutional mandate.

“I also thank the staff of the Audit Service for their diligent and dedicated work.

“The Audit Service will continue to promote good governance, transparency, accountability and probity in the country’s public financial management system,” Mr Asiedu added.