Payroll audit flags 14,000 ghost workers, GHC150m in irregular payments – Ato Forson

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has disclosed that a nationwide payroll audit has uncovered significant irregularities in Ghana’s public sector salary administration, including over 14,000 unverifiable workers and 53,307 separated staff still on payroll.

Presenting the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 24, 2025, Dr. Forson said the Ghana Audit Service, commissioned by the Ministry of Finance, has completed 91% of a comprehensive payroll audit across all 16 regions.

“So far, the Audit Service has not been able to identify or verify more than 14,000 workers,” the minister told Parliament.

He further revealed that 53,307 individuals, categorised as retired, reassigned, terminated, on leave without pay, or even deceased, are still receiving salaries under the government payroll.

“The Audit Service expects to recover a minimum of GHS150.4 million in unearned salaries from these separated staff over the 2023 and 2024 period alone,” he stated.

Dr. Forson described the findings as alarming and stressed the need for strict enforcement of payroll validation protocols moving forward.

“Going forward, we will enforce the monthly payroll validation system and strictly apply sanctions to anyone who violates the process of paying salaries,” he added.