By: Joyce Owusu
August 31, 2026
Financial irregularities recorded across five audited sectors fell sharply by 62.9 per cent in 2025, dropping from about GH¢20.72 billion in 2024 to GH¢7.69 billion, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem has disclosed. The reduction represents a decline of approximately GH¢13.03 billion and exceeds the government’s 50 per cent target for reducing financial irregularities during the year by 12.9 percentage points.
Mr Ampem attributed the improvement to intensified efforts to strengthen public financial management, tighten internal controls and improve accountability across public institutions. He disclosed the figures during an engagement on the 2025 Auditor-General’s Reports involving Chief Directors, Chief Executive Officers and heads of covered public entities. “I am pleased to report that, taken together, financial irregularities across these five sectors declined from approximately GH¢20.72 billion in 2024 to GH¢7.69 billion in 2025,” he said.
According to the Deputy Minister, the scale of the reduction demonstrates that sustained attention to financial controls and institutional accountability can produce measurable improvements in the management of public resources. He said the achievement was significant because it not only represented a substantial reduction in reported irregularities but also surpassed the government’s own benchmark for the year.
The engagement was therefore aimed at ensuring that public institutions take greater responsibility for addressing weaknesses identified in the Auditor-General’s Reports and strengthening systems to prevent similar breaches from recurring. Heads of covered entities were expected to examine the findings of the reports, improve compliance with financial management requirements and address control deficiencies identified within their respective institutions.
Mr Ampem stressed that the reduction should reinforce the need for public institutions to maintain stronger financial discipline rather than treat the improvement as an end in itself. The government’s position is that continued improvements in internal controls, compliance and accountability will be critical to sustaining the decline in financial irregularities and protecting public funds from avoidable losses and other financial management weaknesses.
##2025 Auditor General’s Report, #Financial Irregularities, #Thomas Nyarko Ampem
