23 GIS Officers Refund GH¢124,552 In Salary Overpayments – Muntaka

The Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, has disclosed that GH¢124,552 in salary arrears wrongly paid to 23 Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officers has been fully recovered and paid into the Auditor-General’s recoveries account.

The recovery follows an audit that uncovered irregularities in salary arrears paid to the officers at the Elubo post, who were upgraded to Assistant Immigration Control Officer I on July 18, 2023.

Speaking before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, October 20, Muntaka said the officers had received the money as bulk payments, making it difficult for them to identify the period covered by the arrears.

“I’m happy to say that we’ve received all the 124,552 and it’s been paid into the Auditor-General’s account,” he told the committee.

The audit found that although the officers’ upgrade took effect on July 18, 2023, their salary arrears were calculated from March 2023, resulting in an overpayment of GH¢124,552.

Auditors subsequently recommended that the commanding officer recover the amount, together with interest at the prevailing Bank of Ghana rate, and pay it into the Auditor-General’s recoveries account.

However, the Interior Minister said the recovery of the principal amount had been completed, but the requirement to pay interest remained a challenge.

He argued that the officers had not deliberately misrepresented information or engaged in wrongdoing to obtain the money, as the arrears were paid directly into their accounts in bulk.

“In fairness, Madam Chair, I think that the idea that they should pay with interest is not fair because they did nothing wrong,” he said, suggesting that responsibility for the interest should instead be considered in relation to those who authorised the payments.

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