‘No cedi must be wasted’ – Ato Forson tells public officials

The Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has urged public officials to make the recovery and sound management of public funds a routine practice rather than a mere slogan. He made the call in Tamale during an engagement on the 2025 Auditor-General’s Report with Regional Ministers and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives.

Dr Ato Forson stressed that every cedi owed to the state must be collected, safeguarded, appropriately spent, and fully accounted for. He warned that waste and mismanagement of public resources continue to undermine the delivery of essential services such as healthcare, education, sanitation, and road maintenance.

According to the Finance Minister, Ghana cannot afford to squander its limited public resources. He explained that every cedi has a purpose, whether it is buying medicine, repairing a classroom, desilting a drain, improving a market, or maintaining a feeder road. When funds are wasted, left uncollected, or poorly spent, he noted, someone somewhere ultimately loses access to a needed service.

Dr Ato Forson emphasised that recovering every cedi due to the state must move beyond being a catchy phrase on banners and become a genuine way of working. He outlined a clear chain of accountability: collect what is owed, protect what is collected, spend only what is approved, account for what is spent, recover outstanding debts, and prevent future lapses.

The engagement formed part of efforts to ensure that findings in the Auditor-General’s Report translate into concrete action rather than being shelved. The Minister’s remarks signal a renewed push for fiscal discipline and transparency at all levels of local governance.

His call has been welcomed as a timely reminder that prudent management of public funds is central to national development and the effective delivery of services to citizens.

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