The Auditor General’s Department has begun its National Payroll and Verification Audit in the Volta Region. In all 46 thousand government employees are expected to be audited in the exercise which will end September 14, 2018.
The Volta Region is the third to go through the process after the Department embarked on a similar exercise in the Central and Western Regions.
Speaking at the launch of the exercise in Ho which was attended by heads of public and civil services in the region, the Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo bemoaned that the country’s payroll is choked with several “ghost” names which are being paid without contributing to productivity.
He stated that thousands of government employees have died, resigned or retired but still have their names on the payroll hence the need for his outfit to conduct the exercise to cleanse the payroll of such names.
Mr. Domelevo was hopeful that that the National Payroll and Verification Audit and other measures being rolled out by the Department will ensure that the payroll is purged to save government the billions of Ghana cedis that it loses annually.
Mr. Domelevo gave the assurance that officials of the Department will exhibit high sense of professionalism to ensure that no one is unjustly treated during the verification exercise.
He however, appealed to government employees to cooperate with officials during the process to ensure a smooth exercise.
He also urged the citizenry to report cases of financial malfeasance in the government agencies to the Department to enable it track down recalcitrant and in effect seal leakages in government revenue.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa who was the first to be verified pledged the support of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council to ensure a smooth exercise.
The Auditor General’s Department has set up special verification centres at health facilities, facilities of law enforcement agencies among other key agencies in the region to minimise interruptions in the course of their works.
Government employees are supposed to present two national identification cards, school certificate, current payslip and appointment letter during verification.
