The leader of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated his dedication to addressing the problem of ghost names on government payrolls.
He emphasized that the payroll database is constantly being examined to stop unauthorized people from receiving government benefits while on tour in Bawjiase, in the Awutu Senya West constituency.
Using examples of how the government’s digitalization drive has successfully removed phantom identities from SSNIT and National Service Scheme payrolls, Dr. Bawumia emphasized the critical role that this initiative plays in fighting corruption.
He claims that they found 44,000 ghost national service employees and 29,000 ghost names on the SSNIT payroll, saving over 300 million Ghana cedis, with the aid of the Ghana Card.
In order to create a payroll system free of corruption, Dr. Bawumia promised that his administration would keep up its efforts.
“Through the Ghana Card, we’ve made significant strides in eliminating ghost names from government payrolls. Our first operation targeted the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), where we identified and removed 29,000 ghost names, saving 400,000 cedis.
“Similarly, the National Service Scheme saw 44,000 ghost personnel removed, resulting in savings of over 300 million Ghana cedis.”
“The Controller and Accountant General has since removed all ghost names from the government payroll. Today, we can confidently assert that the Ghana Card has helped eradicate ghost names from our government’s payroll.
