Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has revealed that the Auditor-General has disallowed GH¢3.5 billion out of GH¢67 billion in government arrears inherited by the Mahama administration, citing violations in awarded contracts, particularly within Ghana’s road sector.
Speaking in an interview with Citi FM on Friday, July 25, Dr. Forson described the scale of fiscal mismanagement as alarming, with nearly a third of the arrears linked to unapproved road projects under the previous government.
“Out of the GH¢67 billion, GH¢22 billion happens to be road-related. The Auditor-General has validated about GH¢23 billion, another GH¢23 billion is still awaiting further validations, and he has rejected about GH¢3.5 billion and says we shouldn’t even try to pay it,” he stated.
According to Dr. Forson, many of these rejected claims stemmed from contracts initiated without proper commencement authorisations or adherence to Ghana’s public financial management laws, particularly under the Ministry of Roads in the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
He warned that such practices not only violated procurement and fiscal rules but also deepened Ghana’s budgetary stress, exacerbating arrears accumulation and threatening macroeconomic stability.
“These rejections stem from improper contract processes and the absence of commencement authorisations,” he explained, emphasising that the approvals bypass directly contributed to Ghana’s fiscal constraints today.
The Minister further disclosed that beyond the GH¢67 billion in arrears, the government also faces a staggering GH¢194 billion in contract commitments, most of which were awarded without assessing the state’s financial capacity to honour them.
He blamed the situation on what he termed “weak commitment control systems and unchecked spending, which were the hallmarks of the economic conditions left behind by the previous government.”
Analysts say the Auditor-General’s disallowance of the GH¢3.5 billion may offer temporary fiscal relief but underlines the urgent need for tighter expenditure controls and enforcement of public procurement laws to protect public finances and rebuild investor confidence.
