Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Isaac Adongo, has emphasized the urgent need for stricter financial oversight and a reform of the country’s auditing framework, particularly concerning state-owned enterprises like the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The lawmaker noted that while the government is beginning to assert more control over commitment expenditures, further measures are being extended to agencies that typically operate outside direct government appropriation in an interview on State of Affairs on GHOne TV monitored by MyNewsGH.
“We are beginning to have a handle on the commitment controls and we have extended that to the government by the expenditure,” Adongo said. “Some of the agencies do not spend out of government appropriation but they spend on their balance sheet.”
Citing ECG as a major example, he explained how such agencies could procure through the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) without sufficient financial scrutiny. He revealed that new measures now require even these entities to obtain clearance from the Minister of Finance.
“In the end, they constitute what we call contingent obligation on the state. If those agencies were not able to pay, they will have to call on the government to pay,” he stressed. “Government needs to know what is happening across, and we are tightening that.”
Adongo also criticized the performance of auditors responsible for scrutinizing the books of these entities, questioning the depth of their work and their ability to assess key risks in operations.
“How on earth can you be an auditor of ECG and you don’t develop an audit program that is able to take care of a major risk… the procurement and utilization of imported items within its operational cycle?” he asked.
He disclosed that discussions are ongoing with Parliament’s State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) and the Ministry of Finance to review the quality of audits, including the strategies behind them, in order to hold professionals accountable for negligence or superficial oversight.
“To what extent did the audit strategy address the inherent risk in the operations of that organization?” Adongo queried, pointing to the need for reforms that would improve financial discipline and accountability across state-owned enterprises.
