By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama, has ordered an immediate investigation into the workings of the National Service Authority under his predecessor following the discovery of over 81,000 suspected ghost workers in the payroll system.
The discovery was made after an audit of the workforce aimed at clearing arrears in allowance payments at the agency, which supervises mandatory one-year employment placements for graduates, the presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the presidency, the finance ministry had released 226 million Ghana cedis ($14.6 million) to pay approximately 98,000 legitimate employees.
It could not be independently verified how much the government has lost in servicing the identified ghost payees.
Mahama, who returned to office in January, has promised to tackle corruption in the oil- and gold-producing nation.
The West African country is gradually emerging from what has been described as its worst economic crisis in a generation.
Also on Wednesday, Ghana’s anti-graft agency, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), declared former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta “a wanted fugitive” in connection with his alleged role in five transactions under investigation for corruption and related offences.
