The Ministry of Finance has revealed that a payment of GH¢89.4 million recorded under the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative was entirely fraudulent, exposing serious financial irregularities dating back to the previous government.
Deputy Minister for Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, speaking on behalf of Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson in Parliament, said an audit of the 1D1F programme uncovered that a request for GH¢89.4 million to be paid to five commercial banks as government interest contributions was fictitious.
“Mr. Speaker, a fictitious debt of GH¢89.4 million has been uncovered. In 2024, the then Ministry of Trade and Industry submitted a request for this amount to be transferred to five commercial banks… When auditors contacted the banks to confirm the liability, each denied being owed any amount by the government under the arrangement. According to the auditors, the GH¢89.4 million debt was fictitious,” Ampem explained.
Officials noted that without the auditors’ intervention, public funds could have been disbursed to settle a non-existent liability. The Ministry has now ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of the 1D1F programme to prevent future irregularities and strengthen accountability in public fund management.
The 1D1F initiative, launched to promote industrialisation and local production across Ghana’s districts, remains a flagship programme of government, and this discovery has prompted renewed efforts to ensure transparency and proper monitoring of its financial transactions.
