The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has signed a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Bank of Ghana and 24 commercial banks to make electronic payments the only legally authorised channel for all government transactions, formally ending the use of physical cheques across Ghana’s public sector.
The agreement, signed on Tuesday, March 25, 2026, in Accra, integrates the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS) with the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) into a single, fully interoperable Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) platform. All Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) must now process payments to suppliers and third parties exclusively through the integrated platform.
Controller and Accountant-General Kwasi Agyei said the moment marked the end of a long-overdue structural correction. “For too long, the public sector has relied on manual cheque books, systems that are slow, difficult to reconcile and prone to inefficiencies and misuse. That era must now end,” he said. “Electronic Funds Transfer is no longer optional. It is now compulsory.”
The reform takes on added urgency in light of Ghana’s fiscal transparency record. The Auditor-General’s 2024 report recorded total financial irregularities of GH¢18.4 billion across public institutions, with cash infractions alone accounting for GH¢4.6 billion — figures that illustrated the scale of control failures the new system is designed to address.
Deputy Minister of Finance Thomas Ampem Nyarko, who represented Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson at the ceremony, described the reform as a core component of government’s fiscal consolidation strategy. He said every inefficiency in payment systems was also a fiscal problem, distorting budget execution and eroding public confidence. The reform, he added, rested on three pillars: accountability, efficiency, and control. He called on financial institutions to enforce compliance strictly, warning that “this reform will only succeed if implementation is disciplined, coordinated and sustained.”
Head of Civil Service Aggrey Darko described the initiative as a “safety valve” for responsible public financial management and pledged the Civil Service’s full compliance.
John Awuah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB), welcomed the agreement, noting that the nationwide rollout would ensure every cedi transacted on the platform remains traceable.
Mr Agyei acknowledged that the transition away from cheques would be phased, but made clear that compliance was non-negotiable. “The shift away from manual cheques will be gradual, but it will be firmly enforced,” he said. “MDAs and MMDAs must comply. We will facilitate this transition with clear guidelines, structured training and effective change management. Nonetheless, the message remains unequivocal, electronic payments are now the standard.”
The reform aligns with the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), its 2025 amendments, and the Treasury Single Account framework, which collectively designate GIFMIS as the mandatory platform for all public financial management.
