Govt can save GH₵36.1m compensation of 17 education institutions-FWSC

By Christabel Oboshie ANNAN, Accra

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Benjamin Arthur has said that government has the potential of saving the National coffers about 1.2% of its expenses from the payrolls of 17 institutions in the education sector.

He said a monitoring exercise carried out by FWSC on these 17 institutions shows that government can save some GH₵36.1 million (GH₵36,107,957.75) if it takes measures to correct certain identified anomalies.

He said this at a media briefing in Accra to update the public the Commission’s nationwide Payroll Monitoring Exercise, which started on April 3, 2023.

These anomalies he listed are date of birth mismatches, where information in the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) database differs from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) payment system.

He also mentioned cases of impersonation, where some staff who presented themselves to be verified were totally different from the staff verification forms of their various institutions.

Others were the absence of appointment letters to some persons who came up for verification by some institutions, overpayment of salaries and allowances of staff to some institutions, as well as underpayment of salaries and allowances to staff of other institutions.

He said on validation, some validation officers were on transfer but continued to validate for employees in his or her previous district.

The Chief Executive added that there were people, with official accommodation, who still took accommodation allowance.

He said there were many cases of vehicle maintenance allowance found on the payroll which should not be the case.

Another worrying situation, he said, was some employees taking vehicle maintenance allowance whilst they continued to use official vehicles.

Mr Arthur noted that an analysis of the institutions’ payrolls revealed that their wage bills have reduced by an average of 1.2% from the month of April when the exercise began, translating into a difference of GH¢36,107,957.75 from April to August 2023.

He stated that the total wage bill for the 17 institutions has been in gradual decline from January 2023 to March 2023, whilst the percentage change in the wage bill for May and June 2023 has recorded negative 1.77 and negative 2.95 respectively as compared to that of April.

This, according to him shows a decline in the wage bill since the roll out of the Exercise in April, 2023.

The CEO added that in the months of July and August this year, the total wage bill was also recorded to have been on the decline with six per cent and per cent reduction month over month respectively.

“This also resulted in a GH¢178,359,098.51 and GH¢18,447,396.30 in cost savings for only July and August this year,” he explained.

Mr Arthur however said that the findings from eight of the target institutions have so far shown that if the anomalies found are rectified, government would save some GH¢252,188.38 per month.

He indicated that the Commission has written letters to the affected institutions instructing them to take immediate steps to correct the anomalies as reported to them during the payroll monitoring of those affected institutions.

He recommended that all state institutions affected by the exercise, should take urgent steps to correct all anomalies as indicated through the Commission’s observation and findings before punitive measures are taken against them.

Background

The Payroll Monitoring Exercise is aimed at sanitising the Public Sector Payroll by identifying and expunging any existing fraud and anomalies on the payroll.

This is to ensure that only approved salaries and allowances are paid to deserving beneficiaries.

The phase one of the preliminary exercise covered 17 educational institutions and agencies in the Education Sector in the Greater Accra Region.

These include the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, the National Accreditation Board, National Council for Tertiary Education, and National Commission for Civic Education.

Others are the National Service Secretariat, Ghana Library Authority, University of Professional Studies, Ghana Institute of Languages, and Ghana Communication Technology University.

Mr Arthur announced that the FWSC in collaboration with the Local Government Services would embark on the second phase of the exercise in the Greater Accra and Western Regions starting October 17

He said that would be followed with verification exercises.

Madam Baaba Anquandah, Director, Salary Administration, FWSC, emphasised that the monitoring exercise was not meant to be a witch-hunting exercise, but to ensure equity and fairness for everyone.
FWSC had earlier announced that government could save up to GH₵10 billion if the ongoing payroll cleansing exercise is completed successfully. The Commission explained that from last year to the first three months of this year, it undertook a preliminary monitoring in collaboration with the Internal Audit Agency, which covered about 58 public institutions.