The International Centre for Public Development (ICPD) has raised concern over the growing wave of financial irregularities within Ghana's public sector.
According to the Centre, the GH¢18.4 billion financial leakages threaten economic stability and undermine the government's flagship programmes across the country.
This was contained in a statement issued and signed by the Coordinator of the Centre, Mr Ellis Asamani, and copied to the Ghanaian Times on Friday.
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The statement said the recent GH¢18.4 billion losses reported by the Auditor-General were not merely an accounting failure but a national development crisis.
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It noted that these public finance leakages, resulting from mismanagement, waste, and corruption, were quietly draining resources that could have changed lives and transformed communities across the nation.
The statement added that every cedi lost to financial irregularities was a cedi denied to farmers, teachers, hospitals, and small businesses.
"This is not just a fiscal issue; it's a human tragedy unfolding in slow motion," the statement emphasised, adding that the situation posed a serious threat to Ghana's transformational agenda and must be addressed before it gets out of hand.
The statement continued that the Auditor-General's 2024 report revealed that financial infractions in public boards, corporations, and statutory institutions had more than doubled, rising from GH¢8.8 billion in 2023 to GH¢18.4 billion in 2024 -- a staggering 109 per cent increase.
Such losses, it stressed, weaken fiscal discipline, widen the budget deficit, and compel government to borrow more simply to stay afloat.
Beyond the statistics, the statement noted, lies the painful truth that these leakages were undermining the very programmes designed to transform the country's future.
It added that the 24-Hour Economy Initiative, aimed at boosting productivity, creating jobs, and expanding exports, could only succeed if the nation plugged the holes in its public finances.
"When billions disappear through leakages, we lose the capital needed to light our cities, power our factories, and pay our workers," the statement said.
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It also warned that the Volta Economic Corridor Project, expected to drive regional industrial growth, could suffer funding delays and erode investor confidence if fiscal indiscipline persists.
According to the statement, the Big Push infrastructure agenda, which seeks to modernise Ghana's roads, housing, and energy systems, risks stalling due to misallocation or misuse of public funds.
It further mentioned that the Akoko Nkitinkiti Poultry Project, designed to boost domestic poultry production and reduce imports, could lose vital support that would have created jobs.
Moreover, the statement emphasised that social initiatives like the Fee-Free First-Year University Project depend on every cedi being used efficiently.
It concluded that the GH¢18.4 billion lost could have paid fees for thousands of students, expanded campus facilities, or built new dormitories across the country's secondary schools.
FROM YAHAYA NUHU NADAA, TAMALE
