The Office of the Auditor-General has recovered GH¢10 million from individuals who were paid salaries they were not entitled to, remitting the funds into the Consolidated Fund at the Bank of Ghana.

The recoveries, made voluntarily by those implicated, come amid an ongoing special audit into unearned salaries, a practice that has long drained public resources. Auditor-General Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu told the Daily Graphic that the funds were recovered within the past two months as the audit gained momentum.

“So far, the audit shows that 53,311 government workers who had officially left the public service remained on the payroll, resulting in over GH¢150 million in unearned salaries,” he explained.

The report, covering 2023 to April 2025, highlights significant lapses in payroll management across Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs). Although the separation of staff due to retirement, resignation, contract completion, termination, or death was recorded, crucial information was not transmitted to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) to halt salary payments.

Out of the 53,311 separated staff, 2,446 continued receiving salaries after their exit dates. These “unearned salaries,” totaling GH¢150.36 million, are now subject to recovery, with the Auditor-General urging MDAs and MMDAs to retrieve the funds promptly.

Asiedu praised the voluntary repayments, noting that notifying individuals of discrepancies has expedited refunds and saved the state time and legal costs.

He, however, warned that recovery alone is insufficient. “We are collaborating with the Ministry of Finance and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate and prosecute public officials who authorised or validated these fraudulent payments,” he said.

Officials under scrutiny include payroll officers, controllers, human resource personnel, and heads of institutions who either negligently or complicitly allowed unearned salaries. Dossiers on these individuals are being prepared for police investigation and possible prosecution.

The Auditor-General assured that the audit would continue until every government agency is reviewed and all culpable individuals are held accountable. He also called on others who might have benefited from similar schemes to voluntarily refund the money.

President John Dramani Mahama recently revealed that the Attorney-General’s Office and the Judicial Service are setting up special courts to fast-track the prosecution of individuals implicated in Auditor-General reports.

Minister of Finance Dr Cassiel Ato Forson previously disclosed that about 53,000 ghost names were on the government payroll, with over GH¢150 million in unearned salaries expected to be recovered.

Background

The issue of unearned salaries and ghost names has long appeared in Auditor-General reports. Previous audits, including the 2022 report, flagged millions paid to staff no longer in service.

To address this, the government has implemented payroll cleansing exercises, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD2), to centralise and automate payroll management. Despite these efforts, systemic weaknesses and communication delays between departments continue to pose challenges.