Ghana’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Minister of Finance to conduct a full-scale investigation into the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) following revelations of unresolved financial liabilities amounting to over GH¢2.9 million and questionable license suspensions linked to data migration challenges.

The directive was issued during a tense committee sitting in Parliament, where the Commissioner of GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, disclosed that the authority encountered major setbacks when transitioning from the Ghana Customs Management System to the Integrated Customs Management System in 2020.

The migration, he said, led to the loss of critical data, which has since hindered legal proceedings and efforts to trace officers responsible for financial irregularities.

Despite earlier recommendations to recover the funds and sanction culpable officers, the GRA admitted it had been unable to do so due to the missing data.

This explanation drew scepticism from committee members, who argued that records and system logs should have allowed for the identification of individuals involved.

“Even with system logs, there are ways to trace who initiated the suspension or handled the cases,” one member insisted.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, acknowledged that while the decision to suspend licenses was valid at the time, gathering sufficient evidence for prosecution became difficult due to the data migration failures.

PAC, however, expressed deep concern over the inability to account for such a significant sum, warning that lapses of this nature threaten fiscal integrity.

The committee ordered the Finance Minister to submit a detailed investigative report within 30 days, covering the circumstances surrounding the unrecovered funds, the license suspensions, and corrective measures taken.

“We are flagging this issue for urgent attention,” the Committee Chair stressed.

“The Minister is tasked to provide detailed findings to ensure accountability and transparency.”

The investigation outcome will form part of PAC’s official report to Parliament, expected to highlight systemic weaknesses at the GRA and outline reforms to prevent future lapses.