By: Mercy Darko
Effective March 2024, all Government employees who do not have the National Identification Card also known as the Ghana Card risk the suspension of their salaries.
This follows the launch of the Payroll and National Identification Authority Linkage System which will see the linkage of the database of the NIA to the payroll.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia who launched the system at a short ceremony in Accra said this new intervention will not only eliminate ghost names on the payroll, but will ensure transparency and accountability.
Ghost names on Ghana’s payroll have been a long-standing issue, leading to financial losses for the state.
These false entries which involve adding nonexistent employees or retaining names of departed or retired workers, drains public resources and hinders efficient service delivery.
In a bid to address these issues, the government introduced measures such as biometric registration and audits to cleanse the system to ensure accuracy and eliminate these fraudulent entries.
The newest addition to these measures is linking the database of the National Identification Authority to the CAGD payroll.
Government workers are expected to go through a verification process to capture their details.
Vice President Bawumia who described this intervention as historic said this is part of the government’s digitization drive by leveraging on technology to fight corruption.
The Controller and Accountant General, Kwesi Kwaning-Bosompem, while outlining the benefits of the new system also urged government workers to register and obtain the Ghana Card for verification.
An Internal Consultant for Payroll, Georgina Marku Tyson, who facilitated the process explained how the new system works.
It will be mandatory for new government employees to be verified using the Ghana card while existing employees will go through a re-verification exercise.
The mobile verification is free of charge and will be available at designated areas across Ghana.
LATEST STORIES
- Kenya signs MoU on sanitation support services with Jospong
- Alan Kyerematen highlights AfCFTA achievements, pledges to boost Ghana’s domestic trade
- WAFCON 2024: Black Queens draw South Africa, Mali and Tanzania in Group C
- Forget about NPP; it’s a declining Party – Alan Kyerematen
- Baku: COP29 Final Day – Draft Proposal in a fix
