Payroll audit: Non-existent school had staff who were being paid in Northern region

Special Prosecutor Kisi Agyebeng

A report by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) has revealed that salaries were being paid to staff of a non-existent school in the Northern Region of Ghana.

According to the report, the investigation team discovered "that xxxxxx DA Primary School in the Kumbungu District of Ghana Education Service did not exist at all. Yet, this non-existent contrived entity was represented as staffed and the purported staff were being validated monthly and being paid salaries."

Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng said this discovery was "extremely worrisome" as "a non-existent entity had been designated as a functioning District Assembly Primary School and the data of the artificially created staff had found its way into the government payroll system for regular payments."

According to the report, over 1,200 staff across various institutions were investigated in the Northern Region alone.

Of these, over 200 "ghost" workers - who were reported to be deceased, retired or whose whereabouts were unknown - were said to have had their salaries amounting to GHS2.8 million blocked since January.

If unchecked, the report claimed this "ghost" payments would have cost taxpayers over GHC34 million in 2024 alone.

The two state entities say further action would be taken to recover these stolen funds and prosecute those responsible.