Presidential Advisor, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, has announced that the government is in the process of establishing specialised financial and environmental courts to prosecute audit-related offences and illegal mining cases across the country.
Joyce Mogtari in a Facebook post on Monday, November 17 , said the decision was taken after consultations between President John Dramani Mahama, Acting Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Attorney-General Dr. Dominic Ayine and Auditor-General Johnson Akuamoah-Asiedu—marks a major shift in Ghana’s approach to accountability and environmental protection.
According to her, the move is necessary because “Ghana must confront – decisively and urgently – the root causes of endemic corruption and environmental degradation.”
She noted that despite the Auditor-General’s annual reports exposing widespread financial irregularities, “one crucial limitation persists – the office does not have prosecutorial powers.”
The establishment of specialised courts, therefore, aims to close this enforcement gap and ensure that audit infractions no longer end at the publication of reports.
“These specialised courts change that reality,” she wrote.
“By dedicating judicial resources specifically to audit and environmental offences, the state signals that these are high-priority issues.”
The new initiative will introduce circuit adjudications across all regions, making justice more accessible and eliminating long-standing barriers such as case backlogs and jurisdictional confusion.
Joyce Mogtari stressed that the inclusion of illegal mining cases under the new courts is a critical step in protecting Ghana’s environment. Describing galamsey as “a crime against national survival and future generations,” she argued that linking environmental harm to broader accountability will strengthen national efforts to restore degraded landscapes.
She added that the combination of the Auditor-General’s constitutional powers to disallow expenditures and surcharge offenders, alongside swift court action, creates “a powerful deterrent” against misuse of public funds.
On the benefits to citizens, she wrote that holding offenders accountable would protect essential national resources:
“Funds meant for schools, hospitals, infrastructure, services end up diverted or wasted. But when those behind such misuses are held to account, the pool of resources available for the public good increases.”
However, she also cautioned that the success of the initiative will depend on proper resourcing, institutional independence and strong political will.
Failure to adequately support the courts, she warned, risks recreating the same delays that have historically weakened accountability systems.
“The establishment of specialised courts for audit and environmental offences represents a significant step forward in Ghana’s governance evolution,” she said.
“If implemented effectively, this initiative would mark a turning point in Ghana’s pursuit of accountability and sustainable governance.”
She called for collective responsibility in the fight for transparency and sustainable development, “Ghana is drawing a line in the sand. And the question now is simple: will we, as citizens and institutions, rise to meet this moment? The answer must be yes—for the public purse, for the environment and for the generations who depend on our choices today.”
