The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has rejected allegations circulating on social media that a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Defence received unearned salaries totalling GH¢427 million over 29 months, insisting that Ghana’s payroll system makes such payments “impossible.”
This response comes after The Fourth Estate linked the CAGD to a recent Auditor-General’s report covering January 2023 to June 2025, suggesting that the official received an average of more than GH¢14 million monthly in salaries not due.
But in a statement issued on April 20, 2026, the CAGD dismissed the allegations and defended the integrity of the government payroll system.
“The Government of Ghana payroll system runs on controls and automations which allow only approved pay structures by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to be processed for employees eligible by their conditions of service,” the department said.
It explained that salaries are processed only after multiple layers of validation, including approval by heads of covered entities and internal checks designed to detect irregularities and prevent overpayments.
“Monthly salaries are paid to eligible employees on the Government of Ghana payroll after online validation… These monthly payments are further subjected to internal quality processes to validate each salary payment,” it said.
The CAGD further stressed that its systems include safeguards such as variance analysis, condition-of-service verification, and bank-level payment reconciliation to ensure accuracy in payroll processing.
“It is therefore impossible under the current payroll arrangement to pay a government employee salary in excess of what is legally due that employee,” the statement said.
The department also urged that such claims be verified before publication, calling for greater caution in reporting on sensitive financial matters involving public funds.
The controversy has triggered renewed public debate over payroll accountability and the reliability of audit-related disclosures, even as the CAGD maintains that existing controls are sufficient to prevent systemic overpayment.
