We saved the nation GHC198m through payroll monitoring in 2023 – FWSC boss

The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) says it has saved the nation over GHC198,000,000 in its payroll monitoring exercise as at the end of 2023.

Chief Executive Officer of Commission, Ben Arthur says, his outfit will be auditing the payroll of the education sector to rid ghost names.

He spoke exclusively with our correspondent, Daniel Opoku, in Accra on May 8, 2024.

The payroll monitoring exercise began in April last year.

More than fifty institutions have been audited to get rid of ghost names.

As of August last year, the Commission had saved over GHC2 million revenue on government payroll.

By December, it had saved GHC198 million.

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Mr Ben Arthur explained that the exercise will be continued until the government payroll is cleaned.

He debunked the notion that the exercise is to witch-hunt public servants.

“We do not intend to use the payroll monitoring to witch-hunt anybody.

For us it is a learning exercise,” he stated.

This year 2024, the commission has begun another payroll monitoring exercise in which it has identified that many public servants have multiple dates of birth.

“In almost every institution, it is very pervasive.

How can an individual have four dates of birth, date on SSNIT card is different, insurance is also different,” he asked.

He called for attitudinal change among the public sector workers.

“Just last week, in some of the districts, when they heard that the Fair Wages people were coming, everybody came to work,” Mr Arthur revealed.

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By Daniel Opoku