{
  "id": 13212720,
  "title": "‘Ghana cannot afford to waste public resources; every cedi has a job’ – Ato Forson",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/ghana-cannot-afford-to-waste-public-resources-every-cedi-has-a-job",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-09T21:03:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/ghana-cannot-afford-to-waste-public-resources-every-cedi-has-a-job-ato-forson/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson urged Ghana's regional and local government authorities to intensify efforts to recover misused public funds, enhance financial oversight, and ensure every collected cedi is accounted for. He emphasized that financial waste and mismanagement directly hinder the delivery of crucial services, warning that Ghana cannot afford to lose money meant to improve citizens' lives. During a discussion on the 2025 Auditor-General's Report in Tamale, Forson called for stronger financial accountability, better compliance, and proper utilization of public funds under the theme \"Recovering Every Cedi.\" He stressed that each cedi should have a specific purpose, such as providing medicines for healthcare facilities, repairing classrooms, improving markets, repairing drainage systems, and maintaining feeder roads. Forson urged public officials to view the recovery and safeguarding of state funds as a regular administrative duty rather than a one-time commitment. He stressed that \"Recovering Every Cedi\" should become an everyday practice, including collecting due funds, protecting collected resources, spending approved money, accounting for expenditures, recovering owed funds, and preventing future losses. Forson stressed that accountability should go beyond meeting audit requirements to actively addressing financial irregularities and correcting weaknesses that expose public resources to losses. He called on Regional Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives, and Coordinating Directors to act on the Auditor-General's findings, recover funds when necessary, and reinforce internal controls to avoid future financial lapses. The meeting brought together several Regional Ministers, including Northern, Savannah, North East, Upper West, Oti, and Upper East Regional Ministers, all committed to improving local infrastructure and ensuring government spending delivers tangible benefits to communities.",
  "summary": "Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has challenged regional and local government authorities to step up efforts to recover lost public funds, tighten financial controls and ensure every cedi collected by the state is properly accounted for.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}