Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem
THE CONTROLLER and Accountant-General has suspended the September 2022 salaries of public sector workers whose bank names are mis-matched on the Government of Ghana (GoG) payroll system.
The salaries of public sector workers who have invalid bank account numbers on the system have also been suspended pending further directives.
The action was taken as a result of a Quality Assurance and other validation processes undertaken by Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD).
This was contained in a letter signed by Angela Peasah, Head of Payroll Processing Directorate on behalf of the Controller and Accountant-General, and addressed to heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the state.
The letter therefore, asked employees whose bank names are mis-matched on the payroll to report to the Payroll Coordination unit of CAGD at block “A” room 32.
They are to present their appointment letter, current posting letter, National Identification Card, Pay slips for the last three months, a voided cheque leaflet of their bank account, all of which must be under a cover letter from the MDA confirming they are at post.
“For employees with invalid bank account numbers, they are supposed to submit their correct bank account numbers to the PPSs for update,” the letter added.
The action has been described by some as government’s move to correct the persistent weaknesses in its fiscal management as it braces itself for a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia recently announced that out of the 602,000 government workers on the payroll, 148,000 have been found to have identifications which do not match any biometric identification at the National Identification Authority (NIA) database.
This was discovered after a biometric audit by the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.
Speaking at the 2022 Internal Audit Agency Conference, the Vice President said the Controller General’s biometric audit also found 533 workers on government payroll with multiple identities.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak