The Controller and Accountant General’s Department has said it will take some time to halt the payment of salaries to government employees without Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) numbers.
At least 30 percent of the names on government’s payroll do not have SSNIT numbers but they still receive their monthly salaries.
The Department has been accused of helping thousands of public servants in that situation, to break the law.
But speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the Public Relations Officer of the Department, Mr. Victor Nyaledzigbo said “we are still in the process and we will get there.It is a process”
“We have started the process of taking note of those without account numbers and financial clearance in order to deal with the problem,” he added.
Suspension of Salaries
The September salaries of more than 20,000 civil servants were suspended because the affected persons failed to supply the Department with the requisite information.
The Department has for some time now, asked employees through circulars, radio announcements, press releases and notices on individiual employees’ payslips to update their bank records, but only a few employees complied with the directive.
Mr. Nyaledzigbo attributed the problem to the refusal by various employees to submit their records to the MDAs.
He further clarified that “if a new entrant is employed today, the name is supposed to be keyed into the payroll system by the MDA itself.”
Inconsistencies in information
Revealing some challenges the Department has been battling with, Mr. Nyaledzigbo said the Department, has over the years identified some inconsistencies it has with information for the payroll system, adding that the Department has devised measures to correct the anomalies.
“The major exercise for the Department this year was to clear most anomalies found on the payroll system,”he revealed.
On the issue of financial clearance, Mr. Nyaledzigbo said though the law requires that all MDAs are to apply for financial employment from the Ministry of Finance before placing employees on the pay roll system, the MDAs were able to mechanise or place employees onto the system without following due process.
He said “majority of those employees are with the Ghana Education Service”
By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana