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…awarded GHC1.3 million in contracts without approval
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has signalled it will no longer tolerate procurement lawlessness in the public sector, after recommending the Director of Internal Audit at the Ministry of Finance, Jacob Ahadzi, to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution.
The referral follows Mr Ahadzi’s own admission that the ministry awarded contracts worth GHC1.3 million without the mandatory approval of its entity tender committee — a clear breach of the Public Procurement Act.
The Committee’s Ranking Member, Samuel Atta Mills, made the recommendation with little room for doubt.
“We have no choice but to recommend you to the Attorney-General for prosecution. When it comes to procurement, we are not going to compromise,” he stated.
The message from the Committee was unmistakable: procurement breaches at the heart of the Finance Ministry — the very institution meant to enforce fiscal discipline — cannot be swept under the carpet.
The spotlight, however, shifted unexpectedly to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), after the Committee queried why the Finance Ministry’s Internal Audit Directorate was tendering evidence on behalf of another agency.
Mr Ahadzi had presented proof that the GSS had refunded GHC6,400 into the Auditor-General’s recovery account at the Bank of Ghana on 12 August 2025. The Committee acknowledged the payment but bristled at the Finance Ministry’s role in defending the GSS.
“Have you furnished the Auditor-General with this information?” Mr Atta Mills asked pointedly.
Mr Ahadzi conceded he had not, explaining that the GSS itself was supposed to provide the documentation directly.
The Committee promptly ordered the GSS to appear before it in person. In a moment of sarcasm that drew laughter in the chamber, Mr Atta Mills stated, “If they were able to send you the evidence, let them come. We have helicopters available to bring them.”
The post PAC drags Finance Ministry audit boss to AG over procurement scandals appeared first on The Herald ghana.
