In a statement signed by GIBA President Cecil Sunkwa-Mills on February 20, the association referenced recent enforcement actions by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Technologies against unauthorized broadcasting operations.

It noted that a similar regulatory exercise was carried out by the NCA in 2017 under Section 13(1)(c) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775), following delays and failures in license renewals.

GIBA emphasized the importance of compliance in maintaining the integrity of the broadcasting sector and assured its members of ongoing engagement with the NCA regarding the audit.

The association encouraged broadcasters facing regulatory challenges to seek assistance from the GIBA Secretariat for guidance and support.

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According to the PwC report, ECG significantly under-declared its revenues to the regulator. While its records showed revenue collection of GH₵15.8 billion, it reported only GH₵10.4 billion.

Despite under-declaring, ECG still failed to fully pay value chain players based on the declared amount and the cash waterfall mechanism.

Of the GH₵10.4 billion declared, only GH₵6.5 billion was disbursed, leaving a shortfall of GH₵3.9 billion.

The report also highlights that a revenue collection vendor contracted by ECG received GH₵402 million in commissions—an amount nearly equal to the GH₵412 million paid to the Volta River Authority (VRA) and significantly higher than the GH₵323 million received by Bui Power. Alarmingly, the vendor was paid before power-generating entities.

Additionally, despite an International Monetary Fund (IMF) directive requiring a single collection account, ECG operated 99 bank accounts across 19 banks in 2024. However, 78% of its revenue collections were funneled into a single account.

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In a statement congratulating President John Dramani Mahama on his victory, PFAG emphasized the dam’s potential to contribute an additional 20-30% to Ghana’s agricultural GDP and mitigate the effects of climate change.

However, the group raised concerns about alleged mismanagement and extortion under the previous administration.

They urged the new government to initiate an immediate audit as part of its “Operation Recover All Loot” agenda to reclaim misappropriated funds and ensure the project’s proper implementation.

PFAG also advocated for budgetary allocations to complete the dam within the President’s first 120 days in office, highlighting its critical role in unlocking the agricultural sector’s potential and driving sustainable economic growth.

“The Pwalugu multi-purpose dam has the potential to address climate change issues and provide an additional 20% to 30% of agricultural GDP when properly implemented. However, the dam has been used as an avenue for extortion by the previous regime without accountability. We urge you to ensure that any illegal funds are recovered and returned to the state,” the statement read.

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Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu observes the Service has over the years compromised the discharge of its duties to thoroughly probe state-owned businesses and institutions, owing to undue influence.

The Ghana Audit Service has over the years come under criticism for allegedly relenting in efforts to effectively scrutinize the financial records of state-owned institutions.

Their independence to carry out their duties without fear or favour had been compromised.

The service hitherto faced significant challenges in securing suitable office accommodation, often relying on district assemblies for office space or being forced to rent facilities.

At the commissioning of the district office for the Ahafo Ano North district, the Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, explained the absence of permanent infrastructure with well-equipped resources impacted their services.

“The assemblies we audit are the very ones that provide us with office spaces. Next time, if you are ready to audit them you will be very reluctant and compromises our independence as a service to probe them. We are thankful for these edifices across the country,” he said.

The new office at Tepa is one of sixteen edifices built across selected districts of the country, and the second in the Ashanti region, after Offinso.

It houses well-equipped offices and other ancillary facilities to support the daily administrative and technical duties of the service in the area.

Representative of the Ashanti regional minister, George Kwakye Andoh, believes the facility would strengthen the works of the service.

“This project will strengthen the regional and district infrastructure of the audit service thereby enhancing its constitutional mandate of promoting good governance, transparency, probity and accountability,” he said.

Tepamanhene, Dr. Nana Adusei Atwenawah Ampem I, urged good maintenance culture.

Meanwhile, the government has promised to secure a 11-million-dollar facility to support the construction of 12 new regional and district offices across Ghana.

Speaking at a press conference in Kumasi, Apostle Nkansah urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to allow for a thorough audit of the register, stating that transparency and accountability are essential in the electoral process.

“If you are not hiding anything, why resist a forensic audit?” Apostle Nkansah quizzed.

“As a man of God, I believe that honesty and integrity are essential in all aspects of life, including our electoral process. A forensic audit will help to build trust and confidence in the system, and I urge the EC to cooperate with the NDC’s request.”

Apostle Nkansah’s comments come on the heels of the NDC’s allegations that the voter register is bloated and compromised, with multiple registrations and fake identities. The opposition party has been calling for a forensic audit to verify the authenticity of the register, but the EC has so far resisted the demand.

The Head Pastor of Open Arms Ministries Chapel emphasized that the integrity of the electoral process is crucial for the country’s democracy.

“As a nation, we must ensure that our elections are free, fair, and transparent. Any attempt to manipulate the system or hide behind secrecy will undermine our democracy and erode trust in our institutions,” he warned.

The controversy over the voter register has been a major talking point in recent weeks, with the NDC accusing the EC of attempting to rig the 2024 general elections.

The EC has denied the allegations, but the opposition party insists the register is compromised.

As the debate continues, Apostle Nkansah’s calls for transparency and accountability is likely to add pressure on the EC to reconsider its stance on the forensic audit.

This demand comes after the NDC’s call for a forensic audit of the voters’ register. The Tamale South MP has also expressed concerns about the illegal transfer of voters from Pusiga to his constituency.

He pointed out how easily voters can be transferred from Tamale South to Pusiga and voiced his hope that this practice is not widespread, as it could affect numerous other constituencies.

Mr Iddrisu said that the committee responsible for overseeing the Electoral Commission, or the Speaker of Parliament, should invite the EC Chair for questioning.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Mr Iddrisu said, “Mr. Speaker, the Electoral Commission has 75,000 biometric devices which would be used for the purpose of conducting the presidential and parliamentary election on December 7.”

“Those biometric devices need to be subjected to some technical audit to know the state of their batteries, the state of their adapters, the state of their readiness for the election on 7th December, and we would require the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission to come and notify this House how ready the biometric devices are.”

Meanwhile, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, has criticized the Electoral Commission’s published parliamentary nomination forms, pointing out several errors, including a clause requiring candidates to declare that they are not registered voters.

He said that, for example, Paragraph 11 under Part 4 of the parliamentary nomination forms states: “I declare that I am disqualified as a registered voter under all related laws in this country.”

Mr Dafeamekpor noted that such a declaration would make a candidate ineligible to contest the parliamentary election.

“So, the Electoral Commission must be called upon to make amendments to these errors contained in the form, for a new form to be released for members who are contesting in the election to be able to fill them out, complete them properly, and submit them.”

Source: Isaac Kafui Nyanyovor

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The 2015 Audit report recently presented to the Senate, nailed the institution for misappropriation, spending without approvals and diversion of pension. 

It also indicted the law school for illegally paying N32 million to an unnamed cleaner over a period of 12 months against Nigeria extant laws.

It also queried the payment of N36 million as dressing allowance through the account of one of the staff for 52 others without approval and in violation of Nigeria’s Financial Act.

“The Examination of payment records revealed that the Nigerian Law School several times paid N36 million to staff as dressing allowance in 2013 alone. 

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The Management could not substantiate these payments with any approval from Salaries and Wages Commission to enable the audit team to determine the genuineness of these payments to staff. No appropriation in this request,” the report said. 

The queries also said that N34.3 million was paid for the training of staff without approval from the federal government. 

Shocked by the revelations, Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof Isa Hayatu Chiroma, said although he was not in office during the period under review, he can’t imagine the Law School paying N36 million into one account on behalf of others.

Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi has revealed why the state is planning to audit the books of churches henceforth.

According to him, the move will ensure that churches use their financial resources for their intended humanitarian purposes.

“It is important that we know their financial strength and what they indeed use their funds for. The [Charity] Commission will be interested in knowing if the churches actually use their funds to advance the interests of their members,” he explained.

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Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem’ the minister explained that the ministry was ready to present the national policy on religion to government.

Mr Dzamesi said under the policy, all churches will be compelled to register under the existing religious bodies such as the Catholic Secretariat, the Christian Council of Ghana, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), and the Independent Council of Churches.

Any church that does not fall under any of the existing Christian councils in the country, he noted, will be dealt with accordingly.

NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said President Nana Akufo-Addo during his days in Parliament, rejected audit reports generated by Prof. Edward Dua-Agyeman while he was Auditor-General.

“To appoint a character like Dua-Agyeman to be the chairperson of the Audit Service Board is very surprising”, he told Joy News Parker-Wilson in an interview Tuesday.

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The NDC General Secretary said Dua-Agyeman’s appointment undermines the President’s avowed fight against corruption. Listing Dua Agyeman’s ‘sins’, the NDC press statement read by the General Secretary stated;

The reputation of Edward Dua-Agyeman as a hatchet man precedes him, and the slightest investigation into his background would have revealed the following facts about him:

• It was Mr Edward Dua-Agyeman who, in 1983, was banned by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, from practising accountancy and auditing in Ghana for forging an audit report for a private firm whose accounts he had neither seen nor audited.

• It was the same Edward Dua-Agyeman who, in 1986, led a team to conduct special investigations and at the end of the exercise presented a false report causing some Heads of Department to suffer unjustly even though they were innocent, leading to Dua-Agyeman being sacked.

• It was the same Edward Dua-Agyeman who, on assuming office in 2001 as Auditor-General, sent BNI officials to arrest his predecessor Mr Osei Tutu Prempeh in church, on false allegations of possessing confidential state documents.

• It was the same Dua-Agyeman who hauled Mr Prempeh to the police station on another false allegation that Mr Prempeh had unlawfully appropriated a Government vehicle on his retirement, only for it to turn out that the vehicle had actually been duly valued and sold to Mr Prempeh by the state.

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• It was the same Dua-Agyeman who falsely labelled a ‘Final Report’ of an audit into Castle renovations during President Kufour’s term that implicated some of his Ministers and officials as an ‘Interim Report’. He then formed a bogus Committee which doctored the report to exonerate some of the Ministers and officials and fraudulently described the doctored report as the ‘Final Report’.

• It was the same Dua-Agyeman who awarded himself End of Service Benefits and illegally took two luxurious state vehicles home and hid them in his Teshie Nungua residence while on his terminal leave, even though the vehicles had neither been valued nor purchased by him.

It was the same Dua-Agyeman who, in 2005, leaked what was supposed to be an audit report on the publishers of Kwesi Pratt Jnr’s ‘Insight’ newspaper, deliberately quoting concocted tax liability figures.

The NDC has honed its attack on Edward Dua-Agyeman after it emerged he is secretary to a Cabinet Committee Responsible for the Coordination of Forensic Audits which initiated audits into state agencies under the NDC government.

The report, leaked to the media, found that more than ¢800m was misappropriated by these state agencies. The NDC said Dua-Agyeman cannot be appointed secretary to the cabinet sub-committee because he is not a member of cabinet or secretary to cabinet.

The NDC also rejected the audit done by Dua-Agyeman’s Cabinet Sub-Committee and doubted the committee actually exists. The NDC General Secretary said the audit which was done by a private firm is illegal because it was not done with the authorisation of the Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo as prescribed by the 1992 constitution.

The NDC’s take on Dua-Agyeman comes several days after Mr Domelevo accused his Board Chair of interfering in his work. The Auditor-General has petitioned the President on the matter.

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Dua-Agyeman responded, said the Auditor-General does not want to work under Board supervision. But he is yet to respond to fresh allegations levelled by the NDC. Dua-Agyeman has rather indicated intentions to sue the NDC over the allegations.

Dua-Agyeman has taken on the NDC before while the party was in government from 2009 to 2012. This was after the Mills administration denied him his retirement benefits, claiming he was a political appointee and not a career civil servant.

He won in 2013 after a Fast Track High Court directed the State to pay monthly pension and all the money owed the former Auditor-General.

Dua-Agyeman is back in government under the Akufo-Addo administration and a former Deputy Chief of Staff he fought in a series of letters over his entitlement, Dr. Valerie Sawyerr, has been named in the audit report conducted by the cabinet sub-committee of which Dua-Agyemang is secretary.

Deputy Auditor General, George Winful, described the situation as worrying after he discovered that many more civil servants have been receiving salaries based on fake promotions.

Addressing a news conference in Cape Coast, Friday, he urged heads of institutions to be meticulous in how they recruit people into the public service.

“If the signals we are beginning to see are anything to go by, then we will encourage heads of institutions in their review of employees. We have had an instance where some employees have used other people’s certificates for employment.

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The Auditor General’s Department and the Office of the Special Prosecutor earlier this month began the payroll audit exercise in the Central Region.

Workers were expected to present their employment documents as part of efforts to rid the government payroll of ghost names.

All civil servants in the country’s 10 regions will have a 10-day window to produce evidence of their employment and those who cannot do so will face prosecution.

The Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo has said it is unacceptable to spend half of the country’s revenue on less than one million government employees.

According to him, many organisations have shielded people who perpetrate wrong including maintaining the contract of people who have retired.

Regarding what action the Department will take with those found culpable, Mr Winful said his outfit is investigating the authenticity of the documents.

He told Joy News’ Richard Kwadwo Nyarko some people have also given them a lead into instances of fake certificates in some institutions which will all be investigated.

The next stop is the Western region where the team will also take 10 days to embark on scrutinising documents and auditing payrolls.

He said the exercise which will begin next week will not entirely wipe the ghost names syndrome even though the motive is to get all ghost names off the payroll.

“Our common enemy is the ghost and so it is important that these workers help us to wipe this menace off because it has become a worry to us as a country,” he said.

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The Ghana Audit Service, the Office of Special Prosecutor and the Ministry of Finance will, from next week, begin a special public sector payroll audit in the country.

It will begin in state-funded offices in the Central Region and subsequently spread to all public sector offices nationwide.

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This World-Bank funded project, though not the first attempt at cleansing the country’s public sector payroll, is the first large-scale and inter-agency approach to sustainably cleaning the payroll.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Morning Show Dwaso Nsem Friday, Mr. Winful urged all heads of departments to cooperate with the audit by providing all documents required for the exercise.

He said about 600,000 workers on the government payroll would be taken through the process, starting from the Central Region, to minimise the recurrence of unearned salaries.

He noted that workers on government payroll will from next week have their salaries stopped if they fail to be enumerated in the upcoming payroll audit by the Auditor General.

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To ensure that the process was completed and offenders dealt with appropriately as required by law, Mr. Winful said the Audit Service is undertaking the exercise in collaboration with the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigations and prosecutions of persons found to have fraudulently used the payroll to earn income from the state.