GIS recovers GH¢124,552 in excess salary arrears paid to 23 officers

The Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, has told Parliament that the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has recovered GH¢124,552 in excess salary arrears paid to 23 officers stationed at Elubo.

The money has been paid into the Auditor-General's recoveries account following an audit that identified irregularities in the calculation of salary arrears for the officers.

Appearing before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, October 20, Mr Muntaka explained that the officers were upgraded to Assistant Immigration Control Officer I on July 18, 2023, but their salary arrears were calculated from March 2023.

The discrepancy resulted in an overpayment of GH¢124,552, prompting auditors to recommend that the amount be recovered and paid into the Auditor-General's recoveries account, together with interest at the prevailing Bank of Ghana rate.

Mr Muntaka confirmed that the principal amount had been fully recovered, although the payment of interest remained unresolved.

“I'm happy to say that we've received all the 124,552 money and it's been paid into the Auditor-General's account,” he told the committee.

The minister questioned the fairness of requiring the affected officers to pay interest, arguing that they had not deliberately provided false information or engaged in misconduct to obtain the money.

He explained that the arrears had been paid directly into their accounts as bulk sums, making it difficult for the beneficiaries to determine the specific periods covered by the payments.

“In fairness, Madam Chair, I think that the idea that they should pay with interest is not fair, becuase they did nothing wrong,” he said.

Mr Muntaka suggested that responsibility for the interest charges should be considered in relation to the officials who authorised the payments, rather than placing the entire burden on the officers who received the money.