Controller Denies Payment of GHS427 million in Unearned Salary over 29 Months

The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has denied paying GHS427 million over 29 months in unearned salary to a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Defence.

It meant that the said staff earned an average of more than GHC14million per month.

This was exposed by a recent report by the Auditor-General on the process by which government employees were paid from January 2023 to June 2025.

Impossible
In a statement, the Controller explained that the government payroll system runs on controls and automations which allow only approved pay structures by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to be processed for employees eligible under their conditions of service.

It further noted that monthly salaries are paid to eligible employees on the Government of Ghana payroll after online validation of these payments by the Heads of the various Covered Entities.

“These monthly payments are further subjected to internal quality processes to validate each salary payment in terms of acceptable ranges with particular focus on monthly variances, validation of condition of service, above range analysis, validation of total payments to the bank, among others.”

The CAGD therefore posited that it was impossible under the current payroll arrangement to pay a government employee’s salary in excess of what is legally due that employee.

Clarification
The Auditor-General in a separate statement on Tuesday also clarified that the figure as captured was not paid to one individual.

“The figure resulted from a transpositional error in payroll data and relates to discrepancies involving multiple staff within the Ministry of Education.”

It thus apologised, saying, “We sincerely apologise for the error and any confusion or distress it may have caused.”

Story by Hajara Fuseini

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