Government cracks down on payroll irregularities, seeks collaboration with Ministry of Finance

The government has launched an investigation into payroll-related irregularities, including delays in reinstating individuals to the payroll and allegations of fraud, Mr Thomas Ampem Nyarko, a Deputy Minister of Finance, has said.

“We’ve come across some allegations of payroll-related fraud issues that we have asked the investigation agencies to investigate.

“Fortunately, because these things are done on the system, it is even possible for us to see who activated somebody, who deactivated the person, and all that,” he said.

Mr Ampem Nyarko made the remarks at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament’s public hearing in Parliament House on Monday.

He led the Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant-General to answer some questions on infractions highlighted in the 2024 Auditor-General’s report.

The PAC public hearing, which began on Monday, August 19, and will run until Wednesday, August 27, would examine the Auditor-General’s report on MDAs for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Mr Ampem Nyarko’s remarks were necessitated when Madam Abena Osei Asare, the Chairperson of PAC, inquired about the long process to restore public servants back onto the payroll system after allegedly being taken off even when they were validated and also how some rural banks have allegedly refused to refund wrongful payments despite being notified.

On his part, Mr Kwasi Agyei, the Controller and Accountant-General, told the Committee that the government was seeking assistance from the Ministry of Finance to help recover wrongful payments from rural banks.

“You can’t have public funds sitting in your account even when your attention has been drawn to the fact that these are moneys that should go back to the government office,” he added.

According to the Controller, the government was also implementing measures to increase transparency and accountability in institutions, including advertising telephone numbers and email addresses for citizens to report issues or concerns.

“Madam Chair, starting next week, we will advertise phone lines of our regional offices to take complaints of persons who may have issues with payroll and also take reports of payroll fraud, among others.

“We are going to the extent of identifying validators and bringing them to book if they validate people who have not worked for a particular month,” he said.

The Controller called for public collaboration and responsibility to protect the integrity of the payroll system.

He also assured the public that the Controller and Accountant-General would take a serious view of the matters that had come up and work to ensure that genuine employees were paid promptly.

Source: GNA

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