The Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) has issued a statement regarding the pension payments of GH¢393,315 to 59 deceased pensioners. Cephas Dodoo, the Head of Public Relations at CAGD, has clarified that the Department did not make payments to 69 deceased pensioners, as suggested by the Auditor-General's Report.
Mr Dodoo explained that the pensions for the deceased pensioners had already been halted upon notification of their passing, even before the audit was conducted.
In response to the Auditor-General's Report, which implicated CAGD in unauthorised payments to deceased pensioners, Mr Dodoo stated that the referenced report mentioned a section of management's communication regarding military pensioners who had passed away.
He further explained that information about their deaths had not been promptly conveyed to the Department for the necessary removal of their names. However, while the widows of the deceased military personnel were eligible for widows' pension, the Department took steps to eliminate the names of the deceased individuals.
Additionally, a recovery process was initiated to recoup any overpayments by adjusting the monthly benefits payable to the widows. The process of recovery from the widows was in progress, Mr Dodoo added.
Mr Dodoo emphasized that the business process for pension payroll administration required CAP 30 institutions to provide inputs to CAGD for the payments of benefits to pensioners. He further stated that when a pensioner dies, the institution or families of the deceased equally have the responsibility of informing CAGD.
Unfortunately, information about the death of the 59 pensioners was delayed. Mr Dodoo said that even though the management letter on the subject matter acknowledged the difficulty of CAGD to stop the payments of benefits because of late reporting of the deceased, the publication failed to highlight this fact together with CAGD responses to the observation.
He indicated that it is their hope that the Birth and Death Registry will soon complete their digitalisation process and be integrated with the Pension Payroll System, which would enable deletion of pensioners as soon as death certificates were issued.
Mr Dodoo stressed that CAGO had since July 2023 embarked on CAP 30 Pensioners Biometric Data verification exercise, which would enable them to link the NIA numbers to the pension database as part of many internal control interventions to enhance payroll integrity.