The Ministry of Finance has interdicted a staff member of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) over allegations of payroll fraud.
The officer is accused of deliberately removing a teacher from the government payroll after she refused to pay him a bribe.
The case came to light during a sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where Chairperson Abena Osei-Asare expressed concern over recurring incidents of workers being unfairly taken off the payroll, often leaving them unpaid for months.
“It’s very painful that genuinely, your name is taken off the payroll. For one reason or the other, you have to go to the Controller sometimes for eight good months and you still haven’t been reinstated. Meanwhile, you are working, and for one reason or the other, you are being validated. How do we cure this?” she said.
“Sometimes it’s a genuine mistake from the validators. But sometimes too, it is a way of some of the heads showing teachers where the power lies. And it’s very, very painful.”
The Controller and Accountant General, Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, acknowledged challenges with the current system but noted that the department can only act once district-level validators have confirmed staff details.
“They validate in the district offices and determine who deserves to be paid. So if for one reason or another they don’t validate you, the process must be repeated for us to pay you. We cannot, as Controller, pay you if the validators haven’t validated you,” he explained.
Officials from the Finance Ministry confirmed that investigations are ongoing, adding that digital records make it easier to track who activated or deactivated names on the payroll.
“Some of the issues could have been resolved at a district level, but we don’t understand why people still want to see somebody to resolve their issues for them. We think these are genuine concerns. You’ve gone through the process, and they will be resolved. We’ll see to that,” he added.
Deputy Minister for Finance, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, confirmed that the government has launched investigations into fresh allegations of payroll fraud within the CAGD.
He explained that the digital payroll system makes it possible to trace exactly who is responsible for manipulations, including cases where workers’ names are unfairly removed.
“We’ve come across some allegations of payroll-related fraud issues that we have asked the investigation agencies to look into. Fortunately, because these things are done on the system, it is possible to see who activated somebody, who deactivated the person, and all that. There was one that went viral recently about someone whose name was removed from the payroll because he did not pay a bribe. We have taken a serious view of this, and it is being investigated.”
The Ministry assured the public that the matter will be pursued thoroughly and that anyone found guilty will face sanctions.
In a separate matter, the PAC also called for the interdiction of a Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) officer whose actions allegedly led to a GH₵2 million debt for the state.
The Vice Chairman of the Committee questioned how such a decision could have been made without proper documentation.
“You should have had some kind of piece of paper that they looked at. All these companies may have some paperwork at GRA. You suspend their licenses, they take you to court. Give us the reasons why you suspended; you can’t give them. And because of that, we pay over GH₵2 million. Who made that decision to suspend the licenses?” he asked.
Commissioner at GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, admitted difficulties in identifying the specific officer responsible but pledged to provide further details to the Committee.
“At the moment we have had difficulties giving the circumstances surrounding how this event occurred to identify the officers and assign responsibility. That’s why we are reporting back to the committee that we have had difficulties in actually identifying the officers to practically implement the recommendation,” he said.
Chairperson of the PAC, Abena Osei-Asare, urged the Controller’s office to set up a dedicated desk to handle payroll complaints, noting that many genuine cases are often left unresolved for months.
“There are genuine reasons and genuine concerns. Sometimes when you hear their stories, Controller, it’s not too good,” she said.
Source: MyJoyOnline
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