CAGD, OSP to crack down on payroll irregularities
Unearned Salaries, Overpayments Under Probe as CAGD Targets Culprits
Elohim Nyame 
The Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) has announced a partnership with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to investigate and prosecute individuals implicated in payroll irregularities within the public sector.
The move follows strong concerns raised by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament over the growing incidence of financial infractions, including the payment of unearned salaries, undeserved responsibility allowances, and salary overpayments. These issues were highlighted in the 2024 Auditor-General’s report.
Appearing before the Committee in Accra on Monday, 25 August, Controller and Accountant General Kwasi Agyei stressed the need for sanctions beyond the mere recovery of funds.
“My issue is we shouldn’t just end at recovery because we realised that we were happy when they said recovered, then we tick. We should go beyond recovery,” he said. “The audit report will definitely indicate the recipients and their staff ID. We are working in collaboration with other security agencies, OSP, because if somebody did it definitely we are using an oracle system.”
Mr Agyei added that the system leaves a clear audit trail, making it easy to trace irregular transactions. “We can go straight into the system and know, identify who actually on that particular day possessed the allowance. Once we get that we will just exercise patience and then definitely with the investigation, those culpable will be brought to book,” he assured.
The PAC has welcomed the move, stressing that holding individuals accountable is critical to curbing the recurrence of payroll malfeasance and safeguarding public resources.
