The Controller and Accountant- General’s Department (CAGD) has recovered GH3,129,135.58 to cap off the year from undeserved salary payments.
Mr. Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, the Controller and Accountant-General who made this surprising revelation, averred that the department’s primary duty is to defend the public purse in conformity with the government’s efforts to combat corruption and malfeasance in the country. He then provided the assurance that the department would continue to foster the establishment of effective accounting systems in all government agencies.
“The government has invested heavily in the Ghana Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS). Some of the setbacks on the effective usage of the system has been connectivity. I want to assure you that the government is working assiduously to improve and deal with the connectivity issues. Come the year 2022, no institution will have an excuse for the non-usage of the system”.
Mr Kwaning-Bosompem
Mr Kwaning-Bosompem posited that two universities, the Ghana Communication Technology University and the University for Development Studies (UDS), have been migrated to the government of Ghana’s mechanized payroll system and their workers have been receiving their monthly salaries since January 2021 through the system, when the migration took place.
Mr. Kwaning-Bosompem mentioned that personnel processing sections have also been established on the campuses of eight public colleges, with training and migration due to begin next year.
The Accountant-General then took the opportunity to applaud all CAGD staff for their hard work, dedication, and selflessness throughout the year, and urged them to use the event to reflect on their performance and seek God’s face as they look forward to performing even better in the coming year to meet the needs and aspirations of citizens.
Despite the problems posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Controller and Accountant-General stated that the CAGD remained unfazed, focused, and adhered to all safety protocols, allowing it to fulfill its objectives of disbursing payments to its rightful owners.
“We have not relented in ensuring that salaries are paid on time. We have throughout the year paid monthly salaries and pensions accurately and timely on the published dates.”
Mr Kwaning-Bosompem
Technology Upgrade
Mr Kwaning-Bosompem highlighted some of the department’s accomplishments during the year, highlighting the upgrade of “the IBM Power 9 Servers” to improve efficiency, speed, and stability.
“We have also upgraded the Oracle database to the latest version 19c. This will provide data storage integrity and optimization for transactions processed by government agencies and expose duplicates on updates to bank account changes.”
Mr Kwaning-Bosompem
The Accountant-General complimented the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori Atta, and the ministry’s employees for their unwavering assistance to the department, not only in the infrastructure renovations at its data center but also in the production of the national accounts.
“The Third-Party Referencing System (TPRS) upgrade, which was launched in May, 2021, has been completed. Sensitization of Third-Party institutions and government employees was also undertaken in July. Currently, the roll out of the upgraded system is ongoing. The ESPV has also been upgraded and validators in all the regions with the exception of the Greater Accra Region have been trained on the upgraded version.”
Mr Kwaning-Bosompem
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