The Auditor-General (A-G), Mr. Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, has organized a two-day workshop in Accra to debrief members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the reports of the A-G for the financial year ended 31 December 2021 laid before Parliament.

Article 187 (6) of the 1992 Constitution charges Parliament “to debate the Report of the A-G and appoint where necessary, in the public interest, a committee to deal with any matters arising from it”.

Parliament’s Standing Order 165 (2) has thus assigned the PAC to examine the audit reports showing the appropriation of the sums granted by Parliament to meet public expenditure of the government as presented to the House by the A-G of Ghana.

The A-G in his opening remarks indicated that, the exercise will afford members the opportunity to better understand the 2021 A-G reports and assist them in proper examination of the reports during public hearings.

He commended the PAC for the continuous partnership and support for the work of the A-G.

Mr. Asiedu disclosed that he had issued a report on recoveries and payroll savings that emanated from the recommendations in the Auditor-General’s reports for the period 2017-2020.

This, he said, is a response to the public outcry of the need to show how much has been retrieved from the infractions cited in the A-G reports.

He commended the PAC for their work which has significantly contributed to the GH¢2.2b worth of recoveries.

He also indicated that an account has been opened to track all recoveries in real time and further stated that the account which is barely three months has retrieved over GH¢1.2m.

Reports presented at the workshop were; Performance Audit Report on Fleet Management at the National Ambulance Service, Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General on the Management of the Education of Children with Special Needs, Auditor-General reports on Consolidated Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments of the Bank of Ghana as of 31 December 2021, Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General on Mental Health Management and Care Delivery in Ghana, Consolidated Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General on Capital projects of 30 selected MMDAs funded through the DACF-RFG, Report on the Public Boards, Corporations and Other Statutory Institutions for the period ended 31 December 2021.

Others were; Report of the Auditor-General on the Management of Petroleum Funds for the period ended 31 December 2021, Auditor General’s Report on Accounts of the Assemblies for the year ended 31 December 2021, Auditor-General’s reports on Management and Utilization of DACF and Other Statutory Funds for 2021 Financials.

The rest were; Auditor-General’s Report on Pre-University Educational Institutions for 2021 Financial Year, Report of the Auditor-General on the Accounts of Technical Universities and Polytechnics for the year ended 31 December 2021, Ministries, Departments and Other Agencies for the year ended 31 December 2021 and the Public Accounts of Ghana (Whole Government) for the period ended 31 December 2021.

Mr. James Klutse Avedzi, Chairman of PAC, in his remarks commended the Auditor-General for his tireless efforts in protecting the public purse and also recommended the setup of a special team to perform a final review of audit reports before publication.

He disclosed that the Committee in its last sittings began referring entities cited for procurement breaches to the Attorney General for prosecution, which also means that, the A-G should prepare to defend these issues in court.