The 2021 Auditor General’s report showed that Ghana lost more than GH¢1 billion due to infractions at the various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
One of the infractions in the report was the payment of unearned salaries to persons at the various MDAs. The unearned wages were paid to staff who discontinued their engagement with the ministry, persons who have retired, as well as dead staff.
According to the report, the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Education, Office of the Attorney General, and Minister for Justice, as well as the Ministry of Health, at some point paid salaries to staff who had either died, resigned, or retired.
The payment of unearned salaries is a violation of Regulation 92 of the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378) provides that “the Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity shall ensure the immediate stoppage of payment of salary to public servants and notify the Controller and Accountant-General on the vacation of a post by an employee, and on the resignation or retirement of an employee”.
Below is a breakdown of unearned salaries paid by the five ministries
For the Minister of Education, the report indicated that some 88 former staff were paid more than GH¢1 million as unearned salaries after they had stopped working for the ministry.
“We noted that 88 staff who separated from their respective institutions were paid unearned salaries amounting to GH¢1,082,455.02.
“We recommended that the heads of these offices should recover the total unearned salaries of GH¢1,082,455.02 from the beneficiaries, failing which the amounts should be recovered the heads,” the report recommended,” parts of the report read.
