GH₵427m salary claim a transpositional error — Auditor-General apologises to Frank Oliver Kpodo

The Office of the Auditor-General has issued a formal apology following a significant error in its nationwide payroll audit report that mistakenly linked a public servant to an unearned salary exceeding GH₵427 million.

The clarification comes after the audit, which covered the period from January 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, was widely reported in the media, with Frank Oliver Kpodo cited as having received GH₵427,995,661.40 in unearned salary.

The figure was initially highlighted in a report by The Fourth Estate, which suggested that Mr Kpodo had been receiving an average of more than GH¢14 million per month in unearned payments.

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In a statement released on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, the Auditor-General’s office clarified that the amount resulted from a transpositional error and was not attributable to Mr Kpodo.

“The GH₵427,995,661.40 relates to the Ministry of Education in respect of 3,476 unaccounted staff during the payroll audit,” the statement said.

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The Auditor-General extended an apology to Mr Kpodo, the government, the general public, and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, acknowledging the consequences of the error.

“We extend our most sincere and unreserved apologies to Frank Oliver Kpodo for the distress and unwarranted public scrutiny this error may have caused.”

Meanwhile, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has dismissed claims circulating on social media that a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Defence received unearned salaries amounting to GH¢427 million over a 29-month period, stressing that Ghana’s payroll system is designed to prevent such anomalies.

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“The Government of Ghana payroll system runs on controls and automations which allow only approved pay structures by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to be processed for employees eligible under their conditions of service,” the department said.

The department further explained that salary payments undergo multiple layers of validation, including approvals by heads of institutions and internal verification mechanisms to prevent irregularities and overpayments.

“Monthly salaries are paid to eligible employees on the Government of Ghana payroll after online validation… These monthly payments are further subjected to internal quality processes to validate each salary payment,” it added.