Gov’t fights to recover D23.9M paid to ‘ghost’ staff

He said the funds were paid through 16 financial institutions, but the majority had already been withdrawn before any red flags were raised.

He made this revelation before parliament during the questions for oral answers on Wednesday.

He explained that the audit revealed that 1,430 staff who were officially on the payroll could not be physically identified at their assigned posts. “Despite this, they had been receiving their monthly salaries like any other staff, with a total of D23,976,258 paid over three months through various banks and credit unions.”

“So far, only about D2 million has been recovered from the financial institutions. According to officials, most of the money had already been withdrawn by the time government issued a stop-payment directive. One bank that received over D7 million could only return D1.6 million, meaning over D5.7 million vanished into the hands of those absent workers,” he said.

According to the minister, legal steps are being taken to recover the rest. “We have written to the Solicitor General to help us obtain a court order compelling banks to release the remaining funds,” the Minister told lawmakers.

“Some banks, however, are resisting, saying they need customer consent or legal clearance before releasing the funds. As a result, the government has frozen affected accounts, but this may be too little too late.”

The Minister stressed that the individuals involved are not “ghost workers” in the traditional sense. “They are not fake names. These are people who were properly appointed by the Public Service Commission, but during the audit, they were simply not found at their places of work,” he clarified.

He further explained that the government is now considering publishing the names of those involved and taking them to court if they fail to return the money.

Hon. Yahya Sanyang, member for Latrikunda Sabiji, wanted to know why the government seemed more focused on chasing the banks rather than the individuals who collected the money. He also asked if the salaries were paid before finalising the audit. 

The Minister clarified that salary payments go out at the end of each month, and unless a proper audit is conducted and reconciled, it’s hard to stop the funds from reaching even those who may have already left their jobs quietly.

To prevent future incidents, he said the Ministry is now planning to introduce an electronic attendance system. “This will allow us to track in real time who shows up at their posts. If someone is absent for several days, they will be locked out of the system,” the Minister said.