Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, has reaffirmed his commitment to tackling the issue of ghost names on the government payroll.

During his tour in Bawjiase in the Awutu Senya West constituency, he emphasised that the payroll database is undergoing continuous scrutiny to prevent unauthorised individuals from benefiting from government resources.

Dr. Bawumia highlighted the crucial role of the government’s digitalisation agenda in combating corruption, citing successes in eliminating ghost names from the SSNIT and National Service Scheme payrolls.

According to him, with the help of the Ghana Card, they identified 29,000 ghost names on the SSNIT payroll, saving 400,000 cedis, and 44,000 ghost national service personnel, saving over 300 million Ghana cedis.

Dr. Bawumia assured that his administration will continue to work towards a corruption-free payroll system.

“Through the Ghana Card, we’ve made significant strides in eliminating ghost names from government payrolls. Our first operation targeted the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), where we identified and removed 29,000 ghost names, saving 400,000 cedis.

“Similarly, the National Service Scheme saw 44,000 ghost personnel removed, resulting in savings of over 300 million Ghana cedis.”

“The Controller and Accountant General has since removed all ghost names from the government payroll. Today, we can confidently assert that the Ghana Card has helped eradicate ghost names from our government’s payroll.