The Audit Service has denied issuing an apology for allegedly overstating Ghana’s public debt by GH¢138.91 billion in its 2024 Auditor-General’s report.
A statement signed by Ama Awotwe-Bosumafi, Assistant Auditor-General, Public Relations Unit of the Audit Service, said: “There has not been any such apology or statement by the Office regarding information published in our reports.”
It explained that during its review, the Auditor-General observed a discrepancy between total public debt figures reported by the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (GH¢876.08 billion) and the Ministry of Finance (GH¢737.17 billion), resulting in an overstatement of GH¢138.91 billion.
The variance, the statement said, was due to data aggregation errors, the inclusion of unverified obligations, and poor coordination between the Ministry of Finance, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, and COCOBOD regarding debt consolidation.
It described the Ghana Today publication as a misrepresentation of paragraphs 13–18 of the Public Accounts of Ghana, which highlighted discrepancies in debt figures reported by the two government agencies.
The post falsely quoted the Auditor-General as saying: “We overstated Ghana’s total public debt by GH¢138.9 billion in our 2024 report. We apologise for this oversight – Auditor-General.”
“The information stated by Ghana Today is inaccurate and therefore seeks all well-meaning Ghanaians and stakeholders to view the publication as mischievous,” the statement added.
The Audit Service urged media organisations and individuals wishing to republish its reports to verify facts thoroughly.
It reminded the public that all Auditor-General reports have been duly submitted to Parliament in line with Article 187(5) of the 1992 Constitution and are available on the Audit Service website.
GNA
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