Government has directed the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) to open a special account in which monies paid to alleged “ghost names” will be refunded to.
[contextly_sidebar id=”dpg9jobbZzbhwyzinHma2Y14X37fBkpu”]The Minister of Finance, Seth Terpker announced this at a public hearing at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sitting in Parliament on Monday in Accra where he explained how this would prevent waste in the system.
“The Controller and Accountant Generals Department has been directed to open an account into which banks will refund monies that are found to be unaccounted for or fraudulent,” said Seth Terkper.
The Public Accounts Committee during the sitting threw more light on government’s payroll which it said is still suffering from salaries that have been lodged into bank accounts of employees who are either deceased or stopped working with their departments.
Government has been battling to rid the payroll system of ghost names who are still being paid from the CAGD.
In order to halt the payment of such monies however the CAGD in September 2014, suspended salaries of about 20,000 employees without bank accounts.
Seth Terkper called on heads of MDAs to assist the Controllers Department to eliminate ghost names as they have direct responsibility over their staff and are duty bound to notify the department whenever a staff is no longer in service since “they manage the staff at the unit level and it will be prompt.
“For instance if a teacher is transferred or retired or in the event where they die the information will be provided promptly.”
He was optimistic that the move will help bring sanity and help “improve the payroll and the accounting system.”
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana