The Finance Ministry of Ghana has once again been identified as the most fiscally reckless public institution in the country, according to a recent report released by IMANI Africa and Oxfam Ghana. This ranking covers the period from 2021 to 2023 and echoes a similar assessment from 2015 to 2020.
The report, titled “Fiscal Recklessness Index,” evaluated financial irregularities among various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). The findings place the Ministry of Finance (MoF) at the top of the list, followed closely by the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Communication and Digitalisation, Roads and Highways, and Health.
Speaking during a media briefing, Senior Research Associate at IMANI Africa, Dennis Asare revealed that Ghana incurred significant financial losses totaling over GH₵ 4.9 billion in 2023 alone due to these irregularities. Asare emphasized that such substantial losses could have been redirected to support vital social intervention programs, including the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) initiative and the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
He attributed the MoF’s financial mismanagement to broader systemic issues, given its role as a central management agency overseeing other institutions. He further noted that fiscal recklessness extends beyond the Ministry’s headquarters to other agencies under its purview.
A key issue highlighted in the report was the government’s failure in tax collection, underscoring gaps in revenue mobilization efforts. To address these challenges, the report proposes several recommendations, including the establishment of a more empowered fiscal council.