GH¢57.2m in ghost salaries recovered, Auditor-General reveals
The Auditor-General has disclosed that GH¢57.2 million in unearned salaries has been retrieved from public sector workers who either abandoned their posts or failed mandatory validation checks but remained on the government payroll.
According to official records, the funds recovered between 2023 and April 2026 were first deposited into a special recoveries account held with commercial banks before being transferred to the Consolidated Fund.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Auditor-General Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu said the recoveries highlight the government’s commitment to permanently eliminating ghost names from the payroll system.
He stressed that auditors would strictly enforce validation procedures and surcharge any individual found to have received unearned salaries. “We are determined to completely eliminate ghost names from the payroll,” he said.
Data from the Auditor-General’s Department shows that GH¢29.5 million was recovered in 2023 and 2024 from individuals who could not be validated or had left their posts. In 2025, intensified audits led to the recovery of GH¢20.4 million, while an additional GH¢7.3 million was retrieved between January and April 2026, bringing the total to GH¢57.2 million.
Mr Asiedu confirmed that after reconciliation, all recovered funds were transferred to the Consolidated Fund in line with financial regulations.
He also warned that supervisors and heads of public institutions who approve payrolls without verifying staff presence would be held personally accountable. “If you certify a payroll knowing someone is not at post, you will be surcharged,” he cautioned.
The development is expected to impact ministries, departments and agencies where weak oversight has allowed payroll fraud and ghost names to persist.
Explaining the process, Mr Asiedu said audit teams compare validation data, attendance records and posting details during routine checks. Individuals found to have been wrongly paid are surcharged and required to refund the money into the Special Recoveries Account.
Failure to repay could result in a certificate of indebtedness, allowing the amount to be deducted from future earnings or recovered through legal action.
He noted that Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has welcomed the move as a significant step in tackling payroll fraud, adding that institutional heads involved in such practices should face both financial penalties and disciplinary measures.
Mr Asiedu further revealed that names of all surcharged individuals and their supervisors would soon be published as a deterrent.
He assured the public that validation exercises are now conducted quarterly and that no worker will remain on the payroll without proof of active service. “Ghost names will become a thing of the past,” he said.
Although some affected individuals have appealed, the Auditor-General emphasised that the recovery process will continue until the payroll system is fully sanitised.
The Daily Graphic also reports that all recovered funds have been transferred from the Special Recoveries Account—held with the Bank of Ghana and GCB Bank—into the Consolidated Fund in accordance with the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
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