A recent Parliamentary Committee hearing has revealed that lack of proper documentation and record keeping accounts for the primary cause of financial irregularities in Ghana’s public sector, Honourable Abena Osei Asare disclosed.
The Committee, which scrutinize the Auditor General’s report, heard that many ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) are failing to input accurate data into the system, leading to huge leakages and even duplicate payments.
Hon. Osei Asare attributed the failure of some ministries to provide records to show that payments had already been made gave rise to the widely speculated allegations of infractions and mismanagement.
The Committee noted that the main problem lies with documentation and proper records keeping, with many MDAs failing to input accurate data into the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System(GIFMIS).
“The lack of documentation has made it difficult for the Ministry of Finance to track payments and verify claims,” said Hon. Abena Osei Asare.
The situation had propell the Committee to press upon the Minister of Finance to insist that all MDAs input the right records into the system to prevent future occurrences.
The Committee emphasized that proper documentation and record-keeping can solve about 70% of the issues raised in the Auditor General’s report.
The report on the hearing is expected to be ready when parliament resumes, and dutybearers have been urged to take steps to address the issues raised and restore confidence in government financial management.
Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System(GIFMIS)
By Prosper Kwaku Selassy Agbitor
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