Auditor-General corrects report, says GH¢427m was wrongly attributed due to a transpositional error.

Amount actually relates to Ministry of Education payroll irregularities involving 3,476 unaccounted staff.

Office apologises to affected official, government, and public over the reporting error.

The Office of the Auditor-General has issued a correction to its nationwide payroll audit report, clarifying that a previously reported figure of GH¢427,995,661.40 attributed to a single civil servant was the result of a transpositional error.

In a statement dated April 21, addressed to media houses, the Auditor-General said it had noted “with grave concern” publications linking Mr Frank Oliver Kpodo to the amount as unearned salary.

“We wish to state that the amount attributed to Mr Kpodo above was due to a transpositional error. 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 Office explained that the figure was not paid to any individual but formed part of wider irregularities identified within the public payroll system.

The correction follows widespread reports based on the Auditor-General’s Nationwide Payroll Audit covering the period from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2025, which had suggested that the amount was received by a single public official.

The original audit report highlighted serious weaknesses in Ghana’s payroll system, revealing that more than 6,000 government employees received over GH¢800 million in unearned salaries during the review period.

Earlier reports had singled out Mr Kpodo, a senior public servant, as allegedly receiving more than half of that amount, raising significant public concern and triggering calls for investigation and possible prosecution.

The findings also pointed to systemic failures in payroll validation processes, with experts warning that such large sums could not have gone undetected without lapses across multiple oversight institutions.

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The Auditor-General has since apologised for the error and its impact.

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

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It also extended an apology to the Government, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, and the general public.