Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson is warning Ghanaians to brace themselves for what he describes as one of the most shocking audit reports the country has ever seen, a document he says exposes billions of cedis in fraudulent and recycled claims that were on the verge of being paid by the state.
Speaking in a tense interview on JoyNews’ PM Express on Thursday night, just hours after presenting the 2026 Budget, Dr Forson said the audit findings are so explosive that they could have completely overshadowed his budget presentation.
“The report will be published next week. It will blow your mind. It is damning, in fact, troubling,” he declared.
Auditors reject ¢10 billion in suspicious claims
According to him, state auditors have already rejected ¢10 billion worth of claims after discovering that several certificates submitted for payment were not only questionable but deliberately engineered.
He said the auditors uncovered:
- Recycled Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs)
- Fabricated store receipt advice
- Completely fictitious invoices
“Some invoices were simply concocted,” he stressed.
GH¢13 billion was waiting for payment, but his instinct stopped it
Dr Forson revealed that when he assumed office, he took the bold step of suspending all pending payments, even those that had gone through internal checks at the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department and the Bank of Ghana.
That decision, he said, prevented Ghana from losing billions.
“When we stopped the payments and subjected them to audit, we found GH¢13 billion there.
The Auditor-General validated GH¢12 billion. The remaining GH¢1 billion, they said don’t pay, it is fictitious.”
He emphasised that these claims had already passed through every required process and were only waiting for cash to be released.
“If we hadn’t stopped it, Ghana would have lost that GH¢13 billion.”
Names and companies to be exposed
Dr Forson said the audit report contains the names of individuals, companies, and networks behind the irregular claims, and all will be revealed publicly.
“The names are there. The audit will be out. They will publish not only the names, but the companies and all those behind it.”
He explained that he deliberately allowed the budget presentation to go ahead before the audit release, saying the scale of the scandal could have drowned out the government’s policy announcements.
The Auditor-General is expected to publish the full report next week, after which the Attorney-General will take action.
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