The National Service Authority (NSA) has decreased its yearly payroll from over GH1.6 billion to approximately GH700 million after eliminating ghost names and refining its payment procedures, according to Moses Dok Nach Kpeungu, Deputy Director General in charge of Operations.
In an interview with Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, he explained that the notable decrease is proof that continuous changes are working.
“Previously, the payroll of the government was about 1.5 to 1.6 billion every year. As of last year, we paid barely about 700 million Ghana cedis,” he stated.
According to Lt. Col. Kpeungu, the savings were made by improving the verification procedures for monthly allowance payments rather than by cutting back on the number of national service members.
Each service member’s monthly evaluation under the new method needs to be approved by a supervisor at their posting.
Before payment is processed through the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, the report is first validated at the district level, examined by an internal auditor, approved by a regional director, and then reconciled by accountants at the NSA head office.
Although he acknowledged that there are multiple levels of checks in the process, he emphasised that it is entirely digital and has not resulted in significant payment delays.
The Authority presently owes service personnel only one month’s allowance, March, which he described as doable, the Deputy Director General continued.
The NSA spends over GH₵50 million a month on allowances for its nearly 99,500 deployed staff nationwide, totalling an estimated GH₵600 million a year.
Source: newsthemegh.com