Following a thorough audit and verification procedure, the Ministry of Finance has revealed that GH45.4 billion of the claims submitted by contractors and suppliers, totaling GH68.7 billion, have been verified for payment.
Before settling, the review examined exceptional payment requests made to the government in order to ascertain the validity of the claims.
On Tuesday, March 10, in the House of Parliament, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the Deputy Finance Minister, made the announcement during his address on behalf of the Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson.
In order to confirm the legitimacy of unpaid claims made to the Ministry of Finance, the Ghana Audit Service carried out the verification process in collaboration with outside audit companies, according to his explanation.
The statements included bills, Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs), and bank transfer notifications pertaining to outstanding advances owed to contractors and suppliers, according to him.
The total claims examined included GH¢18.3 billion in bank transfer advises and GH¢5.5 billion in overdue IPCs and invoices, according to Mr. Nyarko Ampem.
After the claims were verified, GH¢45.4 billion were determined to be legitimate and payable. But after auditors discovered numerous inconsistencies in the submissions, they immediately rejected GH¢8.1 billion.
The reasons for the rejected claims included fabricated receipt advices, duplicate claims, excessive amounts, payments that had already been made, payments requests for services that had not been completed, and insufficient documentation.
“In an effort 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, the Ghana Audit Service collaborated with EY and PwC.
“Out of this, outstanding bank transfer advises totaled GH¢18.3 billion, while outstanding IPCs and invoices came to GH¢5.5 billion,” he stated.
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