Former Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Nana Akwasi Awuah, has disputed reports suggesting that the company’s financial records for the period between 2020 and 2024 were audited only after the new management requested an audit in 2025.
Mr Awuah says he formally requested a multi-year audit of the company’s books and accounts for the five-year period on September 2, 2024, while serving as Managing Director.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, the former managing director said the delay in auditing the company’s accounts was not attributable to management but rather to bureaucratic challenges associated with the appointment of a new external auditor by the Ghana Audit Service.
His clarification follows a report from an engagement between the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which indicated that PMMC’s books and accounts for the years 2020 to 2024 had not been audited until the new management initiated the process in 2025.
Mr Awuah said the account of events required clarification to establish when the audit process began and the circumstances surrounding its completion.
According to Mr Awuah, he wrote to the Auditor-General on September 2, 2024, requesting a comprehensive, multi-year audit of PMMC’s financial records covering 2020 to 2024.
He maintained that the delay in completing the audits over the years resulted from administrative and bureaucratic difficulties in appointing a new external auditor to undertake the exercise.
“The delay over the years was through no fault of Management but rather as a result of the bureaucracy at the time associated with appointing a new External Auditor by the Ghana Audit Service to conduct a financial audit of the company,” he stated.
He further disclosed that Parliament’s Select Committee on State Enterprises subsequently wrote to the Auditor-General in support of his request for the multi-year audits.
Following the intervention, Mr Awuah said, the Auditor-General assembled a team that commenced work in September 2024.
He added that the final audit reports covering the five-year period were completed, signed and submitted in April and June 2025.
The former managing director’s account suggests that the audit process was initiated before the change in management in 2025, although the reports were finalised and submitted that year.
Mr Awuah also highlighted a performance audit conducted by the Auditor-General in 2023, describing it as the first of its kind at PMMC in approximately two decades.
The disclosure distinguishes the performance audit from the financial audits covering the company’s accounts between 2020 and 2024.
While the multi-year financial audit examined the company’s accounts over the specified period, the 2023 performance audit represented a separate exercise undertaken during his tenure.
The former managing director cited the performance audit as evidence that the company had been subjected to an external review before the completion of the multi-year financial audits.
Mr Awuah further argued that the final audit reports for 2020 to 2024 showed that PMMC had faced significant difficulties during the period but had made a recovery by the end of 2024.
According to him, the company was eventually turned around by the end of 2024, laying a solid foundation for the establishment of GoldBod, which succeeded PMMC’s role in the country’s gold trading and related operations.
“It is instructive to note that the final audit reports over the years in question demonstrate a struggling PMMC which was eventually turned around by year end of 2024 setting a firm foundation for the establishment of its successor GOLDBOD,” he said.
His assertion places the company’s financial and operational performance during the period at the centre of the discussion surrounding the audit findings.
However, the specific findings of the individual audit reports, including the financial position of PMMC over the five years, were not detailed in his statement.
The statement comes after GoldBod’s engagement with Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee brought attention to the audit status of PMMC’s financial records for 2020 to 2024.
The reports prompted questions about why the company’s accounts had remained unaudited for several years and when the process to review them was initiated.
Mr Awuah’s response seeks to clarify his role in initiating the exercise and to challenge any impression that the process began only after the new management took office in 2025.
He insists that he had already formally requested the audits in September 2024, with the Auditor-General subsequently assembling a team to undertake the work.
The former managing director’s statement, however, does not provide the detailed audit reports or their specific findings. Those documents would be necessary to independently assess the company’s financial performance during the period and the extent of the turnaround he claims was achieved by the end of 2024.
The clarification adds a new dimension to the discussion about PMMC’s financial accountability and the transition to GoldBod, particularly regarding the chronology of the audit process and the state of the company before the change in management.
By 1960news.com
