Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has revealed what he described as a massive payroll fraud within the public sector, disclosing that over 14,000 workers on the government’s payroll could not be identified or verified in a recent nationwide audit.
He made this revelation while presenting the Mid-Year Budget Review for 2025 to Parliament, stressing that the government is taking aggressive steps to clean up the public payroll system and prosecute those responsible for enabling fraudulent payments.
He explained that the Ministry of Finance had commissioned the Ghana Audit Service to carry out a comprehensive payroll audit across all 16 regions of the country, a move aimed at identifying and eliminating irregularities in salary disbursements within the public service.
“Mr. Speaker, as part of the fiscal consolidation strategy, we have taken measures to sanitise the public sector payroll and rid it of ghost names. So far, the Audit Service has not been able to identify or verify over 14,000 workers.”
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Ghana’s Minister for Finance
In addition to these unverifiable names, the audit uncovered a further 53,311 “separated staff” who, despite having either retired, been reassigned, terminated, gone on leave without pay, or even passed away, were still drawing salaries from the government payroll.
According to Dr Forson, the Audit Service expects to recover a minimum of GHS150.4 million in unearned salaries from these separated staff over the 2023 and 2024 period alone.
Commitment to Prosecution
The Minister did not mince words in describing the seriousness of the fraud, making it clear that the government will pursue those involved in authorising payments to ghost workers.
“Mr. Speaker, let me use this opportunity to strongly caution those who validate ghosts across the public service that they will be personally liable for the loss of public funds. Let me repeat: those who validate ghosts across the public service will be personally liable for the loss of public funds.”
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Ghana’s Minister for Finance
Dr. Forson announced that, going forward, the Ministry of Finance will enforce monthly payroll validation processes and impose strict sanctions on any officials found complicit in the continued payment of ghost names.
The aim, he said, is to end the persistent abuse of the public wage system, which drains resources that could otherwise be invested in critical sectors such as health, education, and infrastructure.
The revelation comes at a time when the government is focused on tightening public expenditure under its broader economic recovery and fiscal consolidation plan. President John Dramani Mahama’s administration, which inherited a severely distressed economy, has made the elimination of wastage and inefficiencies in the public sector one of its core priorities.
While payroll fraud is not new to the Ghanaian public service, the scale uncovered in this recent audit is among the most extensive in recent memory.
It reinforces long-standing concerns about weak internal controls, outdated human resource management systems, and the lack of real-time data across ministries, departments, and agencies.
Dr. Forson’s strong message in Parliament signals a turning point in how the state plans to confront payroll-related corruption. He assured the House that the Ministry of Finance would continue monitoring the payroll system closely and would introduce more safeguards to prevent recurrence.
With the country still navigating the difficult path of economic recovery, the Finance Minister’s disclosures have struck a chord with a public that has long demanded accountability in the use of public funds.
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