Head of Public Relations at the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD), Cephas Dodoo has indicated that the department did not make payments to 59 deceased pensioners, contrary to what was reported in the Auditor-General's Report.

Dodoo explained that at the time of the audit, the pension payments to the deceased pensioners had already been halted by CAGD upon receiving notification of their passing.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Dodoo clarified the Department's response to the Auditor-General's Report, which implicated CAGD in making illicit payments to deceased pensioners. He clarified that the mentioned report referred to a section of management's letter regarding military pensioners who had passed away, but the information about their demise was not promptly communicated to the Department for their names to be removed from the payment list.

He emphasized that the widows of the deceased military personnel were entitled to widows' pensions. After removing the names of the deceased military personnel from the payment list, the Department initiated a process to recover the overpaid amounts from the widows' monthly benefits.

“The process of recovery from the widows was in progress,” Mr Dodoo added.

According to Mr. Dodoo, CAP 30 institutions were expected to supply inputs to CAGD for the payment of benefits to pensioners as part of the business process for pension payroll management.

“When a pensioner dies the institution or families of the deceased equally have the responsibility of informing CAGD, unfortunately, information about the death of the 59 pensioners were delayed,” he added.

Mr. Dodoo pointed out that the management letter addressing the issue recognized the challenges faced by CAGD in halting benefit payments due to delays in reporting the deceased. Unfortunately, the publication failed to highlight this crucial information along with CAGD's responses to the observation.

He expressed hope that the Birth and Death Registry's ongoing digitalization process would soon be integrated with the Pension Payroll System. This integration would enable prompt deletion of pensioners from the system as soon as death certificates are issued.

Mr. Dodoo emphasized that CAGD initiated the CAP 30 Pensioners Biometric Data verification exercise in July 2023. This exercise is aimed at linking National Identification Authority (NIA) numbers to the pension database as part of various internal control measures to enhance payroll integrity.