Ghana’s South Dayi MP and Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has called for a forensic audit of government’s COVID-19 expenditure. His request follows reported gaps between amounts approved or released and figures included in the Auditor-General’s audit.
Claims of incomplete coverage
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, Dafeamekpor said investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni’s disaggregation of COVID-19 expenditure had exposed gaps in the Auditor-General’s January 2023 report. The MP said the report did not cover the full spectrum of COVID-related expenditure approved by Parliament. He also referred to a later follow-up report on implementation of recommendations from the earlier audit. The allegations concern the scope and presentation of the audit record; the source reports no proven finding that officials deliberately concealed spending or misled Parliament.
Differences across government areas
Dafeamekpor cited several figures that he said required parliamentary scrutiny. For the Ministry of Transport, he said the Ministry of Finance sought 299 million for expenditure during the period, while the audit reported zero. Under local government, he said nearly 160 million was approved and released, but auditors again reported zero. In education, he said Parliament approved and the government received 316.1 million, while the auditors reported 96.3 million. These comparisons identify apparent differences between approval, release and reported audit coverage, but do not by themselves establish that money was lost or misused.
Special audit versus forensic audit
The procurement and accountability issue turns partly on the audit mandate. Dafeamekpor said the Auditor-General was commissioned by the Ministry of Finance on 14 July 2022 to conduct a special audit, but that its scope was limited to education. He now wants Parliament to ask for a forensic audit covering the wider expenditure. A special audit can examine a defined programme or institution against a particular mandate. A forensic audit is intended to trace transactions and supporting evidence in greater depth, helping investigators reconcile approvals, releases, spending and reporting across the relevant bodies. The proposed change would therefore be broader in scope, not simply a repeat of the existing exercise.
Parliament’s proposed next step
Dafeamekpor said Parliament should return to the Auditor-General after the journalist’s analysis raised questions about whether even the education audit covered the full spectrum of approved expenditure. He described Parliament as having been “bludgeoned from behind”, while rejecting the suggestion that it had necessarily been deliberately misled. In his account, deliberate misleading would require the Auditor-General to have audited a ministry, found particular spending figures, and then suppressed or altered them in reporting to Parliament. The call remains a demand for further examination, rather than proof of wrongdoing.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| MP calling for the audit | Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor |
| Original audit report | January 2023 |
| Transport expenditure cited | 299 million approved; audit reported zero |
| Local government expenditure cited | Nearly 160 million approved and released; audit reported zero |
| Education expenditure cited | 316.1 million received; audit reported 96.3 million |
| Special audit commission date | 14 July 2022 |
We have to go back for a proper audit of what we call a forensic audit, not no longer a special audit.
WHY IT MATTERS
Public procurement transparency depends on being able to reconcile what Parliament approves, what government releases, what agencies spend and what auditors examine. The dispute shows why an audit mandate’s scope matters: a report limited to one thematic area may not answer questions about related spending elsewhere. A broader forensic exercise could clarify whether the differences reflect omissions, classification decisions or unsupported expenditure, without presuming the outcome.
Reported from myjoyonline.com, 2026-09-16. The Tender Wire is published by Otnox.
