Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has unveiled government's New Policy to eradicate 'ghost' names from public sector payroll.

Speaking at the unveiling of the National Mechanised Payroll Database by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department in Accra, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia announced a new policy aimed at cleansing the government's payroll of 'ghost names.' The initiative requires all government workers to link their Ghana Card details to the payroll system.

“This linkage between the NIA database and the government payroll will significantly contribute to eliminating the incidence of ghost names on the government of Ghana’s mechanised payroll system, which has persisted for some time,” Dr Bawumia stated.

Meanwhile, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng in November 2023 hinted that his outfit, Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) will conduct an investigation and corruption risk analysis into the government’s payroll, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), state lands, stool lands and other state properties.

The move, according to the OSP is to isolate and remove non-existent names, recovering wrongful payments, and prosecuting persons suspected to be culpable for any offence (s).

“The Controller and Accountant General’s Department is collaborating with the OSP on the investigation and assessment. A joint project team of selected staff from the two institutions has been formed. The investigation and assessment will cover all banks and employees on the government payroll.”

He added, “The exercise will be carried out in two phases. Phase I will cover the Ghana Education Service and health institutions. Phase II will cover all other Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assemblies, Ministries, Departments, and Agencies,” he said.