The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) have released findings into the government of Ghana Payroll Administration.
The investigation covered employees on the government payroll in the Northern Region only.
The OSP and CAGD observed that the payroll system in the Northern Region (covering educational institutions under Ghana Education Service and the Tamale Teaching Hospital only) is attended to by an alarming number of unauthorised and inactive validators.
In one instance, it was discovered that a primary school in the Kumbungu District of Ghana Education Service did not exist at all.
Yet, this non-existent contrived entity was represented as staffed and the purported staff were being validated monthly and being paid salaries.
A staggering amount of GH¢2,854,144.80 was identified as unearned monthly salaries, attributed to individuals who were deceased, retired, no longer in their positions, flagged as missing, or whose whereabouts were unknown, commonly referred to as "Ghost Names."
By blocking these payments and removing the corresponding individuals from the Government Payroll, the Republic saved GH¢34,249,737.60 for the 2024 financial year.
Additionally, ongoing savings are expected for subsequent years, along with potential upward pay adjustments, thanks to the detection of these unearned salaries facilitated by the joint investigation of the OSP.
The OSP and CAGD are engaged in enhanced investigation into the educational institutions under Ghana Education Service in the Northern Region and the Tamale Teaching Hospital aimed at the prosecution of persons who promoted the non-existent school; validated deceased, untraceable, and retired persons and persons who have vacated their posts. subsequent phases of the investigation will extend to the remaining fifteen regions.
Attached below is a copy of the report
Office of the Special Prosecutor, Controller & Accountant General’s Department Report of Investigation: Government of Ghana Payroll Administration (Phase I Vol. 1), 20 May 2024
1.0 Introduction
1.1 The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Controller and Accountant
General’s Department (CAGD) present this report on investigation into
Government Payroll Administration. This report has been substantially abridged
by the redaction of the identities and activities of persons suspected to be
implicated in corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of
Government Payroll Administration.
1.2 This report is founded on regulation 31(1)(a)&(g) of the Office of the Special
Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374), which mandates the OSP
to undertake measures to prevent corruption by conducting corruption risk
analysis and publishing detected acts of corruption through the receipt,
collection, or collation of reports, documents, materials, complaints, allegations,
information and intelligence.
1.3 This report is also founded on section 73(1) of the Office of the Special
Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), which mandates the OSP to conduct
investigations in co-operation with other public institutions.
2.0 The Scope
2.1 In November 2023, after several weeks of consultation and engagement, the
OSP and CAGD jointly commenced corruption risk assessment and
investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in
respect of Government Payroll Administration. The assessment and
investigation are especially aimed at isolating and removing the names of non
existent, ineligible, and undeserving persons from government payroll,
recovering wrongful payments and unearned salaries, prosecuting persons
suspected to be culpable for any offences, and the institution and
implementation of internal controls in respect of payroll processing and payment
of salaries.
2.2 The investigation and assessment covers all employees on government payroll
and their respective banks and other deposit taking financial institutions. The
investigation and assessment is being carried out in two phases. Phase I covers
Ghana Education Service and Ghana Health Service. Phase II covers Ministries,
Departments, all other Agencies and Metropolitan/Municipal/District
Assemblies (MDAs/MMDAs).
2.3 This report is the first volume of Phase I. It covers the Northern Region only.
3.0 Investigation and Assessment
3.1 The Government of Ghana payroll business process is intended to ensure that
only eligible employees are paid deserving salaries. Two key quality assurance
activities form the foundation of the process, viz – the validation of and by management units to confirm that staff are at
post and have earned the assigned amount; and
the payment of salaries into bank accounts of employees as designated by
employees on the payroll.
3.2 The robustness of the intended quality assurance activities has been seriously
challenged in the past few years with the reckoning that some persons who are
deceased, or retired, or vacated their posts are being validated as alive and at post
and are being paid as if they are actually at post and performing designated duties.
3.3 The imperativeness of a wider and more rigorous review of government payroll
data became obvious. This birthed the ongoing collaborative investigation and
assessment by the OSP and CAGD. Two major activities are being undertaken
by the OSP and CAGD, viz –
i. reconciliation of staff paid on the government payroll system and the
nominal rolls of MDAs/MMDAs; and
ii. confirmation of the account holders’ names on the final payroll payment
report with their respective banks.
Source: graphiconline.com
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |