20,000 ghost names expunged from YEA payroll – Oppong Nkrumah

20,000 ghost names have been expunged from the payroll of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) over the past three years.

An audit conducted by the Agency further revealed that the presence of the ghost names cost the taxpayer GHS82.5 million annually.

The YEA is mandated by law to coordinate, facilitate and supervise employment for the youth and related matters in the country.

Speaking at the maiden nation-building updates in Accra, Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah commended the Agency for conducting the audit.

“One of the most significant things the Youth Employment Agency has done is, just by doing due diligence, to save us about GHS82. 5 million a year for the last three and half years. For all the numbers that they were claimed to have been on the Youth Employment Programme, by doing an audit, about 20,000 ghosts have been exorcised from that roll and that translates to about GHS82 million a year.”

In 2017, an internal audit carried out by YEA exposed a huge financial malfeasance believed to have cost the country GH $50 million.

The amount was believed to be a sum of unearned salaries paid to unposted beneficiaries, funds for official use which were paid into personal accounts, and procurement without adherence to due process.

Some employees of YEA were subsequently transferred to various region following the malfeasance.

The transfer was part of an ongoing restructuring exercise to reposition the Agency for higher productivity.