Finance Ministry paid 3 non-staff ¢1.1m in salaries – Auditor-General report

The Auditor-General’s Department has uncovered the unlawful payment of salaries to three persons who are not staff by the Finance Ministry.

The three individuals; Allotey James, Nana Yaw Asiedu and Adam Habibu received a combined GH¢1,112,896.00 as salaries between January 2020 and December 2021.

This was contained in the report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana – Ministries, Departments and Other Agencies.

According to the latest report, there were no traces of the trio’s personal files on the nominal roll of the Ministry, thus, questions that

“Regulation 86 of the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378) states that a Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity shall ensure that only the names of personnel who are eligible to receive payment for work done are kept on the payment voucher and keep records of the nominal roll of the covered entity in a manner that ensures that the correct amount of emolument is paid.

“We noted that three persons were paid a total of GH¢1,112,895.96 as salaries for the period January 2020 to December 2021, but we could not trace their personal files and names on the nominal roll of the Ministry,” parts of the report read.

The Auditor-General subsequently asked that the said amount is recovered from the Chief Director and the payroll validators of the Finance Ministry.

Source: Ama Cromwell