President John Mahama has warned that public officials implicated in financial irregularities identified by the Auditor-General will be compelled to refund misappropriated state funds or face imprisonment, as his administration intensifies efforts to enforce accountability in public service.

Speaking at a town hall meeting with members of the Ghanaian diaspora in London on Sunday (31 May) Mahama said the government would pursue individuals cited in audit reports through newly established audit courts aimed at recovering lost public funds and prosecuting offenders.

The president expressed concern over recurring findings in Auditor-General reports, which he said continue to reveal significant losses to the state through financial mismanagement and misappropriation.

“Every year, you hear the Auditor-General’s report. Ghana loses billions of cedis through misappropriations and related irregularities,” Mahama told the gathering.

According to him, the judiciary has taken a significant step by establishing specialised audit courts to ensure that financial infractions attract sanctions beyond parliamentary scrutiny.

Mahama said the Attorney-General and the Auditor-General would collaborate closely to identify individuals implicated in audit findings and prosecute them where necessary.

“The Attorney-General and the Auditor-General are going to take all the people who have misappropriated funds and put them before those special courts to either refund our money or proceed to Nsawam Prison,” he said.

The president’s remarks come amid growing public demands for stricter enforcement of financial accountability measures and the recovery of state funds lost through irregular expenditures.

Recent sittings of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee have highlighted several cases of financial mismanagement across public institutions. In one instance, officials of the Ho Municipal Assembly were directed to refund GH¢138,000 over audit infractions identified in the Auditor-General’s report.

Mahama said the government’s objective was not only to punish wrongdoing but also to strengthen public confidence in the management of state resources and ensure that public funds are used for their intended purposes.

The administration has repeatedly pledged to tackle corruption and improve fiscal discipline as part of broader efforts to restore confidence in public institutions and support economic recovery.