Ex-PMMC boss issues rebuttal to 2020 to 2024 financial audit claim

GhanaWeb reported on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, that Nana Akwasi Awuah, the former Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), has issued a fierce rebuttal denying claims that the company’s accounts for 2020 to 2024 were only audited after the new management requested an audit in 2025. You know, it is one thing for parliamentary oversight committees to question the financial transparency of state-owned enterprises during leadership transitions, but it is an entirely different reality when a former chief executive is forced to publicly defend his tenure with audited financial statements and documentary evidence, claiming that the delays were bureaucratic rather than managerial failures on his part.

The Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), the Auditor-General’s Department, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, the Parliamentary Select Committee on State Enterprises, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and the broader national public financial management, state enterprise accountability, and audit compliance frameworks are institutionally mandated to foster the transparent and timely auditing of all state-owned enterprises, ensure strict adherence to financial reporting standards, and guarantee that leadership transitions are accompanied by comprehensive, independently verified financial records. When a former managing director publicly rebuts audit delay allegations by presenting evidence of his own proactive audit request and showcasing a dramatic financial turnaround, it directly reinforces the core principles of institutional accountability, financial transparency, and the foundational need to ensure that state enterprises are judged by their audited performance rather than bureaucratic procedural delays.

In a detailed statement dated October 13, 2026, Awuah categorically denied the allegations that surfaced during a recent engagement between GoldBod and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which indicated that PMMC’s books for the 2020 to 2024 period had not been audited and that the new management had to request an audit in 2025. Awuah countered that he had personally written to the Auditor-General on September 2, 2024, to formally request an audit of PMMC’s accounts covering the entire 2020 to 2024 period. He explained that the delay in conducting the audits was entirely due to difficulties in appointing an external auditor and was not the fault of management during his tenure. “The delay over the years was through no fault of Management but rather as a result of the bureaucracy at the time associated with appointing a new External Auditor by the Ghana Audit Service to conduct a financial audit of the company,” he stated firmly. He further noted that the Parliamentary Select Committee on State Enterprises had also written to the Auditor-General in support of his request, and that an audit team eventually began work in September 2024, with the final reports covering 2020 to 2024 completed and submitted in April and June 2025.

To substantiate his claims of financial competence, Awuah released the audited financial statements for 2024, which showed that PMMC recorded a remarkable profit after tax of GH¢178.48 million, a dramatic increase from the GH¢10.83 million recorded in 2023. The report attributed part of this increase to higher revenue and a GH¢54.27 million gain from a negotiated loan settlement. He also highlighted that PMMC underwent a performance audit in 2023, which he described as “the first of its kind in about two decades.” Concluding his rebuttal, Awuah insisted that the audit reports demonstrated a struggling company that was successfully turned around by the end of his tenure. “It is instructive to note that the final audit reports over the years in question demonstrate a struggling PMMC which was eventually turned around by year-end of 2024, setting a firm foundation for the establishment of its successor GOLDBOD,” he asserted, positioning his leadership as the critical bridge that stabilized the company before its transformation into the Ghana Gold Board.

You know, when such comprehensive, document-backed rebuttals are mounted by former state enterprise leaders to defend their financial stewardship against allegations of audit negligence, it highlights the critical importance of ensuring that our parliamentary oversight bodies and the Auditor-General’s Department maintain rigorous, independent verification processes that are free from bureaucratic bottlenecks, so that the financial performance of state-owned enterprises is judged by audited facts rather than procedural delays or political narratives, doesn’t it? As the nation digests this intense exchange over PMMC’s financial legacy and stakeholders reflect on the urgent need to streamline audit processes for all state enterprises, the public continues to monitor the situation, recognizing that robust public financial management frameworks and cooperative dialogue between the PAC, the Auditor-General’s Department, GoldBod, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, former and current state enterprise leadership, and the citizenry are vital pillars for ensuring fairness, financial accountability, and order in Ghana’s state enterprise and public administration landscape.

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