Ghana starts a review into 81,000 possible fake names on the payroll

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama ordered a review into how the National Service Authority worked under the old government on Wednesday, after it was found that the salary had more than 81,000 names that might not be real.

A statement from the president said that the ghost names were found during a headcount to clear up late allowance payments at the agency. The agency is in charge of overseeing grads’ required one-year work placements.

It wasn’t clear what payments might have been made in the past under the fake names. The president said in a statement that the finance ministry had sent 226 million Ghana cedis ($14.6 million) to just over 98,000 valid payees.

Mahama promised to get rid of deep-seated corruption in the oil- and gold-producing West African country that is coming out of its worst economic crisis in a generation when he took office again in January.

Also on Wednesday, Ghana’s anti-corruption agency, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), said that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was “a wanted fugitive” because he was thought to have been involved in five deals that are being investigated for corruption and other crimes.

Ofori-Atta could not be reached right away for comment.