Audit Service to launch online tracker as GHc280.5m in surcharges remains uncollected

The Ghana Audit Service will launch an online tracker in October 2026 to monitor the implementation of audit recommendations, Auditor-General Dr Pamela Graham has announced, as Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee disclosed that GH¢280.5 million in surcharges remains unpaid.

Speaking at the launch of the 2026 financial year audit in Accra on September 29, Dr Graham said the platform, developed in-house, will show which audit recommendations have been implemented and which remain outstanding, along with the reasons for delays.

The tracker will also provide information on recoverable amounts identified, pursued and recovered, as well as corrective, administrative or disciplinary measures taken in response to audit findings.

“An audit report is the beginning of action, not the end,” Dr Graham said, adding that the platform would help identify weaknesses in public institutions that continue to expose state resources to risk.

Unpaid Surcharges and Financial Irregularities

The announcement comes as Abena Osei-Asare, Chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), revealed that GH¢280.5 million in surcharges arising from audit reports remains uncollected. Data from the Audit Service shows that approximately GH¢57.2 million has been recovered through the Auditor-General’s recovery accounts since 2022, as of February 2026.

The 2025 reports on ministries, departments and agencies recorded financial irregularities of about GH¢5.2 billion, of which GH¢4.8 billion related to tax irregularities.

“Finding the problem is not enough. Reporting is also not enough. Even debating on it in Parliament is not enough. There must be a follow through,” Osei-Asare said.

Recovery Efforts and New Audit Approach

Dr Graham said the Audit Service had so far recovered GH¢17.6 billion and prevented approximately GH¢11.7 billion in wrongful payments from being made. The Service plans to conduct interim audits at selected institutions to identify problems early and reduce the accumulation of prior-year adjustments.

The Service will also expand its use of data analytics and forensic tools, incorporating artificial intelligence under appropriate controls, and moving from analysing limited samples to examining entire populations where data permits. A correspondence management system, also developed in-house, will be used to handle submissions from audited entities.

Dr Graham outlined five areas for the 2026 audit cycle: continuous engagement, timeliness, technology, people and impact. She reminded covered entities of the six-month deadline for submitting reports to Parliament under Article 187(5) of the 1992 Constitution.

Constitutional Powers and Surcharge Process

The Auditor-General said she would exercise her constitutional powers of disallowance and surcharge where expenditure is found to have been incurred contrary to law. Persons facing surcharge are first issued a notice of intention and given 14 days to respond. Where the response is unsatisfactory, a disallowance and surcharge certificate is served, with copies sent to the relevant institution and the Attorney-General. The person surcharged then has 60 days to appeal.

“Every cedi lost through weak controls, unlawful expenditure, inefficiency or failure to act is a cedi withheld from education, healthcare, infrastructure, social protection,” Dr Graham said.

Professor Francis Dodoo, Presidential Advisor on the National Anti-Corruption Programme, who chaired the launch, urged the Audit Service to set surcharge rates above the returns that could be made from misappropriating public funds, to make corruption unprofitable.

A Historic Appointment

Dr Pamela Graham was sworn in as Ghana’s Auditor-General on July 2, 2026, becoming the 11th person and the first woman to hold the office. President John Dramani Mahama administered the oath at the Presidency, in line with Articles 70(1)(b) and 187(16) of the Constitution.

At her swearing-in, President Mahama urged her to discharge her mandate with “independence, integrity and courage,” stressing that “every audit report must be guided by facts, evidence and the law”. Dr Graham said she came into the role with 25 years of professional experience in the private sector.

She succeeds Mr Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, whose tenure ended on July 2, 2026.