The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has announced that, together with the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), it has commenced a corruption risk assessment and investigation into suspected corruption and related offences in the administration of the Government Payroll.
According to the OSP, the assessment and investigation aim to isolate and remove the names of non-existent, ineligible, and undeserving persons from the government payroll; recover wrongful payments and unearned salaries; prosecute those suspected of wrongdoing; and implement internal controls to strengthen payroll processing and salary payments.
To facilitate the nationwide roll-out, a pilot exercise was conducted in the Northern Region, covering educational institutions under the Ghana Education Service and the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
This was carried out between December 2023 and April 2024 by a joint team comprising investigators, tracers, and assessors from the OSP and selected staff of the Payroll Processing Directorate of the CAGD.
On May 20, 2024, the OSP and CAGD published an investigation report on the pilot exercise. It revealed the blockage in January 2024 of GHC 2,854,144.80, representing unearned monthly salaries paid to deceased persons, retirees, staff who had vacated their posts, those flagged as missing, and others whose whereabouts remain unknown commonly referred to as “ghost names.”
The removal of these names from the government payroll has saved the Republic GHC 34,249,737.60 for the 2024 financial year alone. The OSP noted that the savings will also continue annually, with additional benefits accruing from future salary adjustments that would have otherwise been paid out undetected.
The Office stated that it is taking steps to recover unearned salaries already paid to deceased, retired, untraceable, or absentee staff. In addition, both the OSP and CAGD are working to strengthen internal control mechanisms in payroll processing to substantially curb the recurrence of unearned salary payments.
The OSP confirmed that Phase I of the exercise will be extended to the remaining fifteen regions of Ghana.
It further disclosed that it is pursuing the prosecution of persons suspected to be culpable in this regard.
“The Office secured six convictions and restitution payments to the Republic during the period under review,” the OSP stated in its 2025 half-year report released on Tuesday, August 19.
Source:3news.com
