A scene during the sitting
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has directed the Coordinating Director, Fu-Ad Abdulai, and finance officers of the Aowin District Assembly in the Western North Region to refund over GH¢50,000 into the recovery accounts of the Auditor-General’s Department within 30 days.
The directive follows the officials’ inability to provide valid documentation to justify several expenditures flagged in the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report.
According to the Committee, the officers failed to produce payment vouchers covering GH¢12,090 in rent, which could not be recovered from 28 occupants between January 2023 and 2024. Additionally, an amount of GH¢16,060 remained unsupported due to missing payment vouchers.
The audit further revealed that GH¢6,700 spent on fuel and GH¢19,000 on rent were not properly accounted for during inspection by the Auditor-General’s office.
The Committee, chaired by Abena Osei-Asare, who is also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Atiwa East, issued the directive when the officials appeared before it on Monday, April 20, 2026, during ongoing public hearings in Kumasi.
The hearings form part of a series of public sittings on the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report, focusing on financial irregularities in public schools and District Assemblies. The exercise, which began on Monday, is the first of its kind to be held in the Ashanti Region.
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) from Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Western North and Ahafo regions are expected to appear before the Committee throughout the week.
The exercise is in line with the Committee’s constitutional mandate to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.
The hearings have brought together key stakeholders, including officials from various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), heads of public basic and secondary schools, and representatives from the Ghana Audit Service, who are required to respond to audit queries and explain discrepancies identified in the report.
The 2024 Auditor-General’s Report highlights a range of financial infractions, including unaccounted-for expenditures, procurement breaches, payroll irregularities, and weak internal controls across several public institutions.
Over the years, the Committee’s public sittings have served as a key platform for enforcing financial discipline in the public sector, often leading to the recovery of misappropriated funds and improvements in institutional accountability.
FROM David Afum, Kumasi