Payroll monitoring is “payroll auditing”, you have no power to do that – CLOGSAG tells FWSC

The Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) says the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) intends to do payroll auditing under the guise of payroll monitoring.

The association said that the Commission does not have the mandate to do payroll auditing.

Payroll auditing is the function of the Internal Audit Agency and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), CLOGSAG said.

The FWSC says that it will embark on a Nationwide Payroll Monitoring Exercise aimed at cleaning up the public sector payroll, starting next month.

It said the exercise would be carried out in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

In a public notice issued by the Public Affairs Unit of the Commission, the exercise will identify and expunge any existing fraud and anomalies in the public sector payroll.

“It is also aimed at ensuring that only approved salaries and allowances are paid,” the notice said.

Ahead of the exercise, the Commission has called on all boards and councils as well as heads of public sector institutions “to conduct their own internal payroll audit and clean-up ahead of that of the Commission”.

“This exercise should cover basic salaries and all types of allowances and benefits.

“By this communication, banks and individuals in receipt of fraudulent salaries and allowances are also advised to take steps to refund same and cease from further fraudulent practices or face the full rigours of the law.”

But speaking in an interview with TV3, the Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG, Isaac Bampoe Addo said “One is at loss about what they are up to do because clearly, from what they stated in their public notice, it has got to do with the collective bargaining process.

“Fair wages negotiates on behalf of the government, that is it, they have no business doing what they want to do because what they want to do is practically payroll audit and that is not their mandate.

“This is like the number of consultancies that have been given in the name of ghost names. This is like consultancy to ‘goro’ boys in the name of ghost names. We are sick and tired of ghost names, it is just an avenue to give jobs to the boys.

“This is not their mandate, they don’t have any business to be doing payroll auditing. What capacity do they have in terms of auditing and accountancy? You have institutions that deal with this, the Internal Audit Agency, Controller and Accountant General Department (CAGD).