By Amoako Kwame
The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department has refuted a social media report claiming that a senior civil servant at the Defence Ministry was paid unearned salaries amounting to GH¢427 million over a period of 29 months.
The report, published on April 20, 2026, by The Fourth Estate, alleged that the payments averaged over GH¢14 million per month and indicated that the figures were cited in a recent Auditor-General’s report covering the period from January 2023 to June 2025.
In its response, the CAGD rejected the claims as misleading and defended the integrity of the government payroll system, stating that robust controls and automated safeguards are in place to prevent such irregularities.
“The Government payroll system runs on controls and automation which allow only approved pay structures by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to be processed for employees eligible under their conditions of service,” the department said in a statement.
It further explained that salary payments are not processed without oversight from the relevant entities.
“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.”
The CAGD added that additional internal checks are applied before payments are made.
“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 conditions of service, above-range analysis, and validation of total payments to the bank, among others.”
The department also called for caution in sharing such claims, stressing its readiness to support verification efforts.
“The CAGD maintains an open-door policy, and we therefore expect that any such claims should be verified before publication.”
The statement comes at a time of increased public attention to payroll accountability in the public sector, alongside continued scrutiny of government expenditure systems.
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Source:
www.gbcghanaonline.com