Controller’s Department to take over NSS salary payments

General News of Thursday, 22 January 2015

Source: citifmonline.com

NSS

The Controller and Accountant General’s Department will take over the management of the payment of the salaries of personnel of the National Services Scheme from September.

The NSS was embroiled in a scandal after the former head of the Secretariat, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro and some other senior officers were indicted in a GH¢7.9 million scandal which involved the payment of the salaries of non-existent National Service personnel and the offering of bribes in an attempt to cover up the investigation.

According to the Department, the government instructed the CADG to take over the payroll due to the inadequate management of the payment of the salaries of the NSS personnel which resulted in the scandals.

The Controller and Accountant General, Grace Adzroe told Citi News in an interview: “The control over the payment of salaries was not very adequate. So the decision was taken to migrate them onto the mechanized payroll so that the controls we are enforcing on the payroll can apply to them.”

She also confirmed that the NSS personnel for the 2014/2015 year would be paid using the E-zwich system as they did not have the information required to be put on the payroll.

“What we realized is that the full information you require to be on the payroll, National Service personnel do not have it because they did not require it at the time. So it was decided that this batch of 2014/2015 National service personnel, let us pay them on the E-zwich. It is another form of identification during payment process. To get the E-Zwich we have to register your biometric data. So that is one control that is being introduced now,” Madam Adzroe explained.

However, she added that the CAGD would ensure that all the required information from the National service personnel for the next year would be taken in order for them to be integrated into the payroll system.

“Going forward for the next batch of National Service personnel, clear directives have been given to the department that from the 2015/2016 as they are coming to register, we should have complete information so that we can put them on the payroll,” she said.