Director of Finance at the Energy Ministry, Richard Kwaku Boadu, has challenged portions of the Ministry’s audit report relating to salaries allegedly paid to non-existing staff.
According to the audit of payroll records, three employees who reportedly vacated their posts between December 2022 and December 2023 were still validated and paid unearned salaries totaling GH¢24,253.49.
The report cited three cases:
- Ali Kanga Nuhu, a Computer Network Technician on secondment, who received GH¢3,300 between December 2022 and February 2023.
- Seth Appiah, a Procurement and Supply Chain Manager, who was paid GH¢9,371.84 between November and December 2023.
- Knollis Delle, an Assistant Engineer, who received GH¢11,581.65 between September and November 2023.
However, appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, Mr. Boadu insisted the salaries were lawfully paid because the staff were still at post at the time.
He explained that when the audit was conducted, the Ministry could not provide the necessary documentation due to misfiling, which created the impression that the staff had left.
“In respect of these issues, all the three staff mentioned were at post at the time they were paid their salaries. But when the auditors conducted the audit, due to misfiling, we could not provide the necessary information,” he told the Committee.
Mr. Boadu further stated that after a diligent search, officials of the Ministry gathered sufficient evidence to prove the salaries were not paid illegally.
“Mr. Chair, after a thorough search by the Ministry’s team, we recovered all the necessary evidence and submitted it to the auditors,” he added.
Despite this, the auditors declined to accept the new evidence, stating that the matter had already been captured in the Auditor-General’s report.
“The auditors explained that it was not within their purview to revise the report and that the matter had to be brought before this honourable Committee (PAC) for a decision,” Mr. Boadu said.
When questioned, the auditors denied receiving any evidence proving that the three individuals were still employees at the Ministry.
“We were not given any documentation to confirm they existed. We issued our observations after the audit. If such evidence exists, it should be produced for verification, but we have not received it yet,” they told the Committee.
PAC Chair, Samuel Atta-Mills, subsequently dismissed officials of the Energy Ministry and ordered them to present the said evidence to the auditors for further consideration.
