The Ministry of Finance has disclosed that GH¢45.4 billion out of GH¢68.7 billion in claims submitted by contractors and suppliers has been validated for payment following a comprehensive audit and verification exercise. The review assessed outstanding payment requests presented to the government to determine the legitimacy of the claims before settlement. Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem made the disclosure on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, March 10, while delivering a statement on behalf of the Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson.
He explained that the verification exercise was conducted by the Ghana Audit Service, working together with external audit firms, to confirm the validity of unpaid claims submitted to the Ministry of Finance.
According to him, the claims comprised Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs), invoices, and bank transfer advices relating to advances owed to contractors and suppliers.
Mr. Nyarko Ampem indicated that outstanding IPCs and invoices amounted to GH¢5.5 billion, while bank transfer advices accounted for GH¢18.3 billion of the total claims reviewed.
Following the verification process, GH¢45.4 billion of the claims was approved as valid and eligible for payment. However, GH¢8.1 billion was rejected outright after auditors identified several irregularities in the submissions.
The audit also highlighted an additional GH¢13.3 billion of payments that require further validation due to inadequate documentation, lack of third-party confirmations, or missing contracts.
He explained that the rejected claims were disqualified for reasons including unsupported documentation, duplication of claims, overstated amounts, payments that had already been made, falsified receipt advices, and instances where payment requests were submitted for work that had not been carried out.
“The Ghana Audit Service, working in partnership with EY and PwC, undertook an exercise to verify and validate a total of GH¢68.7 billion submitted to the Ministry of Finance in unpaid Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs), invoices, and bank transfer advances owed to contractors and suppliers.
“Out of this, outstanding IPCs and invoices amounted to GH¢5.5 billion, while outstanding bank transfer advices amounted to GH¢18.3 billion,” he said.
A summary of the audit shows:
* Total amount audited: GH¢68.77 billion
* Validated for payment: GH¢45.4 billion
* Rejected: GH¢8.08 billion
* Pending justification: GH¢13.27 billion
