The Controller and Accountant-General�s Department (CAGD) has introduced an electronic salary payment voucher system as part of moves to do away with ghost names on the government payroll.
Under the new system, heads of ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) in Accra have up to 48 hours to verify if civil servants are still at post, deceased or dismissed before salaries are released.
In the past, the manual system of generating payment vouchers was fraught with numerous challenges because heads of department either did not respond to such enquiries or most of the time responded after the salaries had been paid.
The system, which was introduced in May 2014 and implemented in June 2014, had yielded significant results, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the CAGD, Mr Gilbert Nyaledzigbor, said.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra on Monday, Mr Nyaledzigbor, however, declined to state the specific number of names that had been deleted from the government payroll as a result of the introduction of the E-SPV, with the explanation that �we are now generating the figure from the system�.
Nationwide project
Following the successful implementation of the E-SPV in the Greater Accra Region, he disclosed that the project would be replicated in the Ashanti Region before the first week of August 2014.
�We hope to implement the E-SPV nationwide by the end of the year,� he added.
E-pay slip
Mr Nyaledzigbor said another initiative being implemented by the CAGD was the introduction of the e-payslip system by which civil servants would receive their payslips via e-mail.
He said the system, which was introduced early this year, gave civil servants the opportunity to send their complaints to the CAGD via e-mail.
The CAGD, he explained, had responsibility to manage the mechanised payroll of the government based on information supplied by the heads of government department and agencies.
System Review
To ensure an efficient payroll system, he said, the system periodically underwent upgrading.
For instance, he said the government payroll had been integrated into the Ghana Integrated Financial Information System (GIFMIS) to further streamline and enhance government�s budgetary controls.
He said the advantages of the GIFMIS included lower administration cost, more accountability and transparency, less opportunity for corruption, better information about government programmes and services, as well as timely publication of public accounts.
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