The Trades Union Congress, (TUC) is kicking against moves by the government to hire the services of a private firm to clean up the public payroll system in Ghana.

Director of Research at the TUC, Dr Kwaben Nyarko Otoo said, “There are challenges with the public administration of the payroll system but we don’t think the best idea will be for a private firm to take over its management.” 

He said, there can be an establishment of an intermediary unit from the Controller and Accountant Generals Department or Ministry of Finance to handle the cleaning of the system whiles the Controller General takes care of the payment procedure rather than a private firm.

“The challenge with the payroll system is partly because the Controller and Accountant General has little or no competence in payroll management but there are private institutions that are also failing so where lies the notion that a private firm can better manage the payroll?” he asked.

Dr Otoo made the disclosure in an interview on the sidelines of an Organized Labour post-budget policy forum with support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Accra.

Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta has indicated that government will be embarking on a massive payroll clean-up programme to get rid of all ‘ghost names’ in the system and correct irregularities on the payroll.

This is expected to help the government save some funds and block loopholes in the revenue mobilization exercise.

Meanwhile, the TUC is urging the government to institute measures in improving fiscal discipline in the public service to avoid Ghana going back to the IMF.