The Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education have come under scrutiny following revelations in the 2024 Auditor-General’s report about unearned salaries and responsibility allowances.

According to the report, some head teachers validated the names of deceased staff and collected their salaries, a practice that has raised concerns in Parliament.

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

Ranking Member of the Committee and MP for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem, Samuel Atta Mills, expressed outrage over the recurring nature of the malpractice. “Awurade nyankopon,” he exclaimed. “My God… GES, this is a problem ooo… Who is keeping an eye on this, to stop these infractions?”

Mr Atta Mills, who has served three terms on PAC, said he was alarmed that the Ministry and GES had year after year failed to curb the irregularities, and called for sanctions against supervisors who allowed the lapses.

The issue came to light when Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Abas Apaak, led a team from the Ministry before the PAC on Friday, August 22. He admitted that dishonesty and collusion among staff of the Ministry and GES had contributed to the persistence of such irregularities, and assured the Committee that steps would be taken to expose those involved.

The Auditor-General’s report also cited weak oversight and poor internal controls as enabling factors behind the infractions.

Meanwhile, responsibility allowances paid by the GES cover certain staff categories, including deputy directors, assistant directors, principal superintendents, school heads, heads of departments, and senior non-teaching officers such as principal accountants and internal auditors.

To address the broader payroll concerns, government has launched a nationwide audit to remove ghost names. Earlier this year, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department announced the termination of salaries for tens of thousands of inactive or separated government workers and pledged to recover wrongful payments made through wrongful validation.

In a similar event, Over 2,000 ghost names have been deleted from the National Service Authority (NSA)payroll scheme as part of its cleanup exercise.The cleanup exercise, according to the Authority, will save Ghana over GH¢1 million.

While addressing the media, the NSA's Director-General, Felix Gyamfi, indicated that the Controller and Accountant General's Department will verify the details of legitimate service personnel.

“If you’re already on another payroll — whether as a police officer, immigration officer, or army officer — and you’re doing national service just to meet the requirement, do not submit your allowance form this month. “We are now working closely with the NIB and other security agencies, and anyone who attempts to defraud the system will be arrested,” Gyamfi warned.

The Fourth Estate, released a report into the payroll records from 2017 to 2023 and the 2024 National Service Year.The finding revealed serious irregularities within the NSA, uncovering how a 72-year-old Kenyan, Kwame Donkor, was wrongly listed as a beneficiary.

Mr Donkor was enlisted in the payroll with a photo and not an official ID card, which is unusual. However, the photo belonged to Emmanuel Mutio, a Human Resource Manager at a private IT company in Kenya. A 72-year-old Kenyan had his name appear on the payroll 226 times as a registered beneficiary.

The Fourth Estate initially uncovered the issue in November 2024, but the NSA obtained a court order preventing them from publishing the findings.

After the court later lifted the injunction, the report was finally released.

In response, President John Dramani Mahama ordered a probe into the matter.

The NIB, upon the President's directive, interrogated the former Deputy Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah and Kwaku Ohene Djan, who is also a former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority. The payroll fraud reportedly cost Ghana GHȼ50 million monthly.

The government uncovered a major payroll discrepancy within the National Service Authority (NSA), identifying 81,885 suspected ghost names that may have led to substantial financial losses.

This revelation follows a detailed audit of active National Service personnel, exposing a vast gap between the actual number of personnel and the figures previously reported for allowance payments.

Official data now confirms that only 98,145 personnel are currently in service, compared to the 180,030 names submitted for payment in 2024.

"This figure is 81,885 less than the 180,030 names presented by the previous management of the Authority for allowance payment in 2024," a government statement confirmed.

The discrepancy, which points to potential fraud or payroll inflation, was brought to light after an investigative report by The Fourth Estate, prompting swift action from the presidency.

In response, President John Dramani Mahama has instructed the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to launch an immediate probe into the operations of the NSA. The investigation aims to determine the extent of the irregularities and hold those responsible accountable.

Additionally, the President has emphasized the urgent need for stricter payroll verification processes to prevent a recurrence of such financial mismanagement in the future.