Ghana Card Can’t Solve Ghost Names- Bright Simons

The Vice President in charge of Research at IMANI Africa, Bright Simons has posited that the Ghana Card with its integrated databases of citizens will have no impact on clearing ghost names on the public sector payroll.

Citing a portion of a report by the Public Service Commission of Ghana, he noted that the menace of ghost names springs from Human Resource Management failure.

“You cannot help but see the point that ‘ghost names’ is actually a case of HR management failure. Biometric solutions like Ghana Card & EZwich can never fix it without HR overhauls.”

It comes after the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, announced the issue of ghost names on public sector payroll will be a thing of the past soon courtesy of the Ghana Card.

He said the work was being done with the help of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.

The ghost names are names added to payroll to collect a wage, even though they are not employees.

The 2022 Government Waste Report by the Institute of Liberty and Policy Innovation reports that Ghana loses GH¢100 million annually to ghost names.