ALARM BLOWS – How State Institutions drained Ghana’s public purse of GH¢88m on unearned salaries

The analysis revealed that the money went to non-existent employees and individuals who were no longer entitled to receive salaries from the state. These included people who had resigned, retired or died, as well as individuals who had never existed on the payroll.

The affected institutions comprised Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.

According to The Fourth Estate’s analysis, MDAs accounted for GH¢84.97 million of the total amount, while the assemblies paid another GH¢3.36 million in unearned salaries.

The ministries cited in the audit reports included Health, Finance, Education, the Interior, Transport, Local Government, and Trade and Industry. Others were the Ministries of Justice, Gender, Children and Social Protection, Food and Agriculture, and Lands and Natural Resources.

Also, several public agencies and services were implicated, including the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ho Teaching Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital, the Electoral Commission, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the Judicial Service, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Education Service across all regions.

Other institutions included the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the School Feeding Programme, the Department of Social Welfare, and regional and district health facilities and polyclinics.

The reports attributed the payments to failures by human resource administrators and payroll validators to update staff records when employees left their positions.

As a result, salaries continued to be paid into accounts associated with deceased officers and other individuals who were no longer eligible to receive public funds.

Other irregularities identified included the payment of 100 per cent salaries to staff under interdiction, although they were entitled to only 50 per cent, and continued salary payments to workers absent without leave.

According to the report, some employees were also reportedly placed on salary grades higher than their qualifications or positions justified.

Similar problems affected MMDAs with the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, and a lack of accountability contributed to the GH¢3.36 million in unearned salary payments.

The analysis further revealed a sharp increase in unearned salaries paid by MDAs in 2024, with the amount rising from GH¢9.93 million in 2023 to GH¢41 million.

An additional GH¢980,319.05 was paid by MMDAs in unearned salaries in 2024, a figure excluded from the GH¢41 million recorded for MDAs.

Also, the Controller and Accountant-General Kwasi Agyei, appointed in 2024, confirmed The Fourth Estate’s analysis that GH¢41 million was spent on unearned salaries by MDAs in 2024.

However, he declined to comment on the 2025 report, explaining that he had not yet appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on the findings.

He disclosed that he could speak only to the 2024 report.

“There was GHS41 million on ancillary in the 2024 Auditor-General’s report to Parliament,” he said, adding that “I wrote to the OSP [Office of the Special Prosecutor] to investigate and then recover that amount to the state.”

When asked to explain the sharp rise from GH¢9.93 million in 2023 to GH¢41 million in 2024, he said he could not attribute the increase to any particular reason.

He nevertheless insisted that officials responsible for validating the payments should be held accountable after the money had been recovered.

“So we should recover and punish those who validated them [employees]. That is why we compiled the list of the validators to OSP,” he said.

Mr Agyei explained that payroll validation was a monthly responsibility, “Every month, somebody in any institution has to validate the payroll before we pay. So, if you are a validator and you validated people and we, [at] the Controller, pay them, then of course, the validator also has to be held responsible,” he said.

“If the person is out of station, the person has vacated the post, and you keep on validating, we will continue to pay.”

The Fourth Estate findings raise concerns about the effectiveness of existing payroll controls and the ability of public institutions to prevent, detect and recover irregular payments.

Between 2021 and 2025, state institutions paid GHS88.33 million in salaries to people who were not entitled to them. The figures in this graphic show the breakdown for Ministries, Departments and Agencies alone. Which specific institutions accounted for the largest payments, and how did this happen? Read the full story to find out. Link in comments 👇