OSP, CAGD Recover Millions in Unearned Salaries Paid to Deceased and Ghost Workers

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), in collaboration with the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), has begun a corruption risk assessment and investigation into irregularities in the management of the government payroll.

The initiative seeks to identify and delete non-existent, ineligible, and unqualified individuals from the payroll; recover wrongful salary payments; prosecute offenders; and introduce tighter internal controls to safeguard salary administration.

As part of the nationwide rollout, a pilot exercise was conducted in the Northern Region between December 2023 and April 2024. The review covered educational institutions under the Ghana Education Service and the Tamale Teaching Hospital. The joint team comprised investigators, tracers, and assessors from the OSP and payroll staff from the CAGD.

According to the published findings, GHC 2,854,144.80 in unearned monthly salaries—paid to deceased staff, retirees, absentees, and individuals deemed missing—was blocked in January 2024. The removal of these ghost names has saved the state GHC 34,249,737.60 for the 2024 financial year alone, with additional savings expected in future years.

The OSP indicated that steps are being taken to recover unearned salaries already paid out to deceased, retired, and untraceable individuals, while measures are being strengthened to minimize future payroll leakages. Phase I of the project is to be extended to the remaining 15 regions of the country.

The Office also disclosed that prosecutions are underway, confirming six convictions and restitution payments to the state within the reporting period.

These details were contained in the OSP’s 2025 Half-Year Report, released on Tuesday, August 19.