Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has reaffirmed his commitment to overhauling Ghana’s public financial management systems, insisting that waste—not a lack of revenue—is the country’s most crippling economic problem.
Speaking in a post-budget media interview, Dr. Forson delivered a candid assessment of longstanding inefficiencies that have distorted expenditure processes and threatened national development.
According to the Minister, wasteful practices embedded deep within Ghana’s public sector have reached alarming levels, undermining even the most robust revenue generation efforts.
He stressed that unless the architecture of public financial management is fundamentally reformed, the state will continue to bleed resources at the expense of development.
“I’ve always said Ghana’s problem is waste. See, we waste too much money. There’s too much waste in the system and if we are able to cut the waste, this country will progress.”
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
Dr. Forson described a concerning pattern of fraudulent documentation and manipulated financial claims that have long evaded adequate scrutiny.
He highlighted issues such as fictitious claims, duplicate and recycled Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs), inflated invoices, and falsified stores receipts, which continue to distort public expenditure records.
These practices, he noted, do not originate from the Ministry of Finance or the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department but from various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) that generate the primary documentation.
Systemic Collusion
The Minister pointed to what he described as a “systemic collusion” that allows questionable claims to pass through layers of bureaucracy without adequate checks.
This, he said, is a symptom of a deeper structural problem within the country’s Public Financial Management (PFM) architecture, which he believes is no longer fit for purpose.
“I think there’s a lot wrong with our PFM architecture… the situation is that today, the government of Ghana is at the mercy of a contractor. To be able to ascertain how much the state owes to X contractor, this is wrong. This is just wrong.”
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
He expressed concern that the government lacks a reliable system to track payments, outstanding obligations, and the full history of financial transactions with contractors.
This lack of visibility, he argued, places the state at a disadvantage and fosters an environment where fraudulent or inflated claims can easily slip through the cracks. As a result, the government often finds itself struggling to determine its actual liabilities, relying instead on external claims from contractors.
In outlining his vision, Dr. Forson noted his desire to leave behind a legacy centred on transparency, accountability, and precision in public expenditure management.
“I want to change the way we process expenditure in this country, and I want to be able to, at a glance, be able to know the history and the trail of Contractor X and Contractor Y… how much we have paid them to date, and how much we owe them at a glance”.
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
Systemic and Data-driven Reforms
The Minister insisted that reforms must be systemic and data-driven, noting that merely increasing revenue will not fix the fundamental problems. “Other than that, what we are doing, we will be coming here all the time and raising the revenue, but we will not be able to use the revenue,” he remarked.
He reiterated his assurance that once the reforms take hold, Ghana will be able to escape its chronic cycle of waste and mismanagement. Dr. Forson disclosed that he is awaiting the final audit report on payment arrears from the Auditor-General, which he believes will provide a critical foundation for the new reforms. He revealed that the interim audit findings already paint a disturbing picture of irregularities.
“Even with what I’ve been analysing with the interim report… there are about 3,000 contractors, companies listed in this interim report. Only 25 out of the 3,000 companies account for $50 billion.”
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
The Minister confirmed that the Auditor-General’s final report will be made public in the coming week, noting that he has already reviewed it and anticipates a rigorous national discussion once it is released.
He invited further engagement after its publication, stating, “Bring me here after the audit report, and then we can have a detailed conversation.” Dr. Forson’s unwavering tone reflected both urgency and determination as he declared that the era of unchecked financial waste must come to an end.
His commitment, he emphasised, is to create a system where expenditure is transparent, justifiable, and accountable, ensuring that national resources are channelled towards development rather than siphoned off through abuse.
As Ghana navigates its post-budget fiscal path, the Minister’s remarks signal a significant policy direction—one that prioritises tightening the country’s financial control systems as a prerequisite for sustainable economic progress.
Whether these reforms will deliver the level of transformation he envisions will depend largely on the robustness of implementation and the political will to enforce compliance across all sectors.
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