The recoveries, made between 2023 and April this year, were paid into a special recoveries account maintained with commercial banks and subsequently transferred to the Consolidated Fund, official records show.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic, the Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, said the latest figures demonstrated the government’s resolve to eliminate ghost names from the payroll system once and for all.

“Auditors will comply fully with validation checks and surcharge every person who is paid unearned salaries.

We are determined to completely do away with ghost names on the payroll,” the Auditor-General stated.

According to the official schedule from the Auditor-General’s Department, the period covering 2023 and 2024 saw GH¢29.5 million recovered from individuals who had either abandoned their posts or could not be validated. In 2025, recoveries totalled GH¢20.4 million following intensified audit exercises.

Then between January and April 2026, an additional GH¢7.3 million has been recovered, bringing the cumulative amount since inception to GH¢57.2 million.

All the monies were initially paid into a special recoveries account. 

The Auditor-General confirmed that after final reconciliations, each tranche was transferred to the Consolidated Fund in line with financial regulations.

Warning

Mr Asiedu warned that managers of public institutions and supervisors who certified payrolls without verifying the presence of their staff would not be spared.

“Supervisors who see to these payments are also going to be held accountable. If you, as a supervisor, certify a payroll knowing that a named person is not at post, you will be surcharged personally,” he said.

The move is expected to shake up many ministries, departments and agencies where lax oversight has historically enabled salary padding and ghost names to flourish.

How it works

Mr Asiedu explained that during routine payroll audits, his team cross-checked validation data, attendance records and posting letters.

Where an individual is found to have been paid without being at post or fails to undergo mandatory biometric validation, a surcharge is issued.

The affected person is then required to refund the unearned amount into the Special Recoveries Account.

If they fail to do so, the Auditor-General’s Department can issue a certificate of indebtedness, enabling the amount to be deducted from future payments due to the individual or recovered through the courts.

Mr Asiedu explained that the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament had welcomed the recoveries, which it described as a major blow against payroll fraud.

He told the Daily Graphic that heads of institutions who aided and abetted such practices should face not only surcharges, but also disciplinary action.

He said, although such recoveries were important, soon there would be full publication of the names of all surcharged individuals and their supervisors to serve as a deterrent.

The Auditor-General assured the public that validation exercises were now being conducted quarterly, and that no public sector worker would be allowed to remain on the payroll without proof of being at post.

“Ghost names will become a thing of the past,” he declared.

As of press time, the department was still processing appeals from some surcharged persons, but the Auditor-General stressed that recoveries would continue unabated until the payroll was fully cleansed.

The Daily Graphic understands that all amounts have been transferred from the Special Recoveries Account (Auditor General’s Special Account with Bank of Ghana and GCB Bank) into the Consolidated Fund, in accordance with the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (PFM Act 921).

ALSO READ:

• Auditor-General recovers GH¢10m unearned salaries – CID to prosecute validation officials

• Payroll fraud: CAGD dismisses claim of GH¢427m ‘unearned salaries’

ALSO READ:

• Education Ministry, GES face scrutiny over unearned staff salaries
• Auditor General begins nationwide payroll audit

• Auditor General flags BoG, Minerals Commission, others for unreported gold tax revenues

The teacher, Stephen Akomeah, a Senior Superintendent II at the Adeemmra R/C Primary School, was cited in the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report as an able-bodied person who nonetheless received Physically Challenged Transport Allowances between June 2021 and May 2024, amounting to GH¢17,703.28.

Although the Auditor-General recommended that the District Director of Education recover the unearned allowance, together with interest at the prevailing Bank of Ghana rate, and pay it into the Auditor-General’s Recoveries Account at the Bank of Ghana, the funds are yet to be retrieved.

When officials from the Donkorkrom GES appeared before PAC on Friday, August 22, 2025, they were unable to explain how Akomeah was classified as physically challenged and subsequently benefited from the allowance.

After a heated exchange, the Chairperson of the Committee, Abena Osei-Asare, directed the District Director of Education to recover the full amount with interest within 30 days or risk personally refunding the money.

Source: James Avedzi

ALSO READ:

• For three years, some staff received unearned salaries – BOST MD [Audio]

• Education Ministry, GES face scrutiny over unearned staff salaries

According to the 2024 Auditor-General’s report, some head teachers validated staff who had died and collected their salaries.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed these head teachers to refund the monies within 30 days.

This came to light when Dr Clement Abas Apaak, the Deputy Minister of Education, led a team from the Ministry to appear before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament sitting on Friday, August 22.

The Auditor-General’s report revealed that some senior staff of the Ministry of Education and GES received unearned salaries, with head teachers validating staff who had passed away.

The report also highlighted financial irregularities, including poor oversight and weak internal controls, which enabled those infractions.

The PAC has ordered head teachers involved in these irregularities to refund the monies within 30 days.

Mr. Samuel Atta Mills, the Ranking Member on the Committee and MP for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem, was amazed how the issue of unearned salaries kept rearing its ugly head with the Ministry every year.

Mr. Atta Mills, who had served as a member of PAC for three terms, exclaimed: “Awurade nyankopon,” to wit “My God…GES, this is a problem ooo…Who is keeping an eye on this, to stop these infractions?”

The legislator was extremely flabbergasted that the Education Ministry and the GES had overseen those financial irregularities on a yearly basis and demanded that the supervising officers who were supposed to stop this should be sanctioned.

Dr Clement Abas Apaak, the Deputy Minister of Education and Builsa South MP, gave the assurance that the Ministry would put measures in place to rectify the challenge.

The Deputy Minister was of the belief that there was dishonesty and collusion among staff of the Ministry and GES, hence the continuous occurrence of the infractions and promised to expose those involved in such corrupt deals.

According to the GES, responsibility allowances are paid to specific categories of staff, including deputy directors, assistant directors, and principal superintendents.

Responsibilities that attract allowances among teaching staff include school heads, headmasters/headmistresses, and heads of departments.

Non-teaching staff eligible for responsibility allowances include principal accountants, internal auditors, and administrative officers.

The government has initiated a nationwide payroll audit to identify and remove ghost workers from the payroll.

The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, earlier this year, announced the termination of salaries for tens of thousands of inactive or separated government employees and is working to recover unearned salaries paid due to wrongful validation.

Source: GNA

ALSO READ:

• PAC orders arrest of absconded Energy Ministry geologist

• PAC orders head of Civil Service to refund GH¢175,000