AG’s report: Corruption swallows GHS17.4bn in 2021 after 2020’s GHS12.8bn – Ablakwa

The 2021 Auditor-General’s Report reveals that Ghana lost GHS17.4 billion to various financial infractions and irregularities by state institutions. It represents almost GHS5 billion more than the GHS12.8 billion lost to the same infractions in 2020 per the A-G’s report.

Bemoaning the situation in a Facebook post, North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said: “Even as the Akufo-Addo government commences IMF bailout negotiations, the tragic irony is that corruption is now totally out of control”.

“The latest 2021 Auditor-General’s report makes for grim reading”, he said, adding: “It indicates that financial irregularities have worsened from the GHS12.8billion recorded in 2020 to a gut-wrenching GHS17.4billion”.

Mr Ablakwa said: “Instead of stopping the massive haemorrhage so we can improve our economic conditions in this period of excruciating cost-of-living crisis, officials have disingenuously managed to create more loopholes by some additional GHS5 billion in a free-for-all plundering”.

“Instructively, the Electricity Company of Ghana alone, awarded illegal single-sourcing contracts without PPA approval to the explosive amount of GHS221.15millio”, he referenced the report as revealing.

“Most of the beneficiary companies have exceedingly interesting names such as: Adu Ofori Atta Enterprise, Adiepena 67 Enterprise, Cota-Q Enterprise, MasterMind B Venture, Kudirash Ghana Limited, Engineering and More, Nel Service Limited and Bentry Company Limited”.

He said: “Though Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta failed to provide information on the COVID-19 National Trust Fund in his COVID-19 expenditure statement to Parliament two weeks ago, thanks to the Auditor-General, we now know GHS67,907,330.33 was received in the form of donations from individuals and corporate organisations”.

“It is equally worth noting that the COVID-19 Private Sector Fund has been instructed by the auditors to refund GHS254,203.00”.

“It’s been such a traumatising 746-page read. If we don’t urgently, sincerely and aggressively confront and defeat corruption and deliberate leakages in public financial management, no magnitude of IMF bailout will save us”.