Hajia Humu Awudu, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 parliamentary candidate for Wa Central in the Upper West Region, has publicly urged the party to allow Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair Abena Osei-Asare to go unopposed in future internal contests, praising her role in safeguarding public funds.
In a Facebook post, Awudu described Osei-Asare, the NPP lawmaker for Atiwa East, as “strategic, brilliant and very effective,” calling her an asset the party must protect.
Recovered state funds
Her comments followed Osei-Asare’s disclosure that parliament’s PAC has helped retrieve close to GHC12.7 billion in public funds through its oversight work, in collaboration with the Audit Service and the Auditor-General.
Speaking at the end of the committee’s two-day sitting in Accra, Osei-Asare said the recoveries were part of efforts to promote transparency and accountability in the use of public resources, adding that full details would be shared when parliament resumes.
The PAC sessions examined Auditor-General reports on the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Revenue Authority and institutions under the transport and education ministries.
Osei-Asare said the committee had concluded most of the 2024 audit reports, with outstanding reviews on metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, as well as pre-tertiary and secondary schools, which would require regional visits.
Enforcement actions
As part of its enforcement actions, the committee directed the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) to recover more than GHC2 million from five staff members sponsored for doctoral studies abroad who failed to return to post.
The PAC also proposed that Ghana’s foreign missions be notified to restrict passport or visa services to defaulters until the funds are refunded.
Awudu’s endorsement adds to internal party support for Osei-Asare’s leadership at the PAC, as public scrutiny of government spending intensifies amid economic pressures in Ghana.
