Fraud uncovered at NADMO as absentee officials draw salary

The Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has started an investigation into cases of fraud involving staff who have allegedly been drawing salaries although they have not been at post for the past one or two years.

Disclosing this to The Ghanaian Times Tuesday, the Regional Coordinator, Doe Tamakloe said pending the outcome of the probe, an embargo had been placed on the salaries of staff at the Offinso District office where the malpractice was first detected.

He cited the assistant district disaster control officer, Saed Ousman, who, he alleged had left the country over a year ago but had been drawing his salary.

He declined to give the number of staff involved since the matter is being investigated but said the cases cut across 22 district offices.

“District Directors have lost grip of their subordinates and people are on the payroll for fun,” he said.

Asked whether the Secretariat had reported the matter to the police, Mr Tamakloe said "We want to finish with our internal investigation first.”

He said most of the district offices appeared defunct as the staff came to work once or twice a week.

The Secretariat, he said, has in view of this started restructuring the district offices to curtail the malfeasance in the system which include the misuse of government facilities and inefficiency bordering on lackadaisical attitude to work.