EU delegation denies covering up Ghana’s payroll fraud

The European Union Delegation to Ghana has refuted claims it attempted to cover up fraud in the country’s public sector payroll system.

Head of Delegation, Ambassador William Hanna, says the claims carried by a Sunday Times publication on December 14, 2014 are wrong.

In a story headlined, “British aid bankrolls Ghana’s legion of ghost civil servants,” the paper reported that “Millions of pounds of European Union aid — much of it from British taxpayers — has been paid to ‘ghost workers’ in Ghana in a huge corruption scandal.”

According to the report, Ingeborg Grässle, a German MEP who chairs the budget control committee that scrutinises EU spending, said the commission’s handling of the affair “smacks of a cover-up”.

“It is outrageous that the European Commission failed to inform the European parliament about the potential loss of huge amounts of taxpayers’ money to corruption, even over a year after they froze the payments to Ghana,” she said.

But Ambassador Hanna in a response, said that "Many of the allegations made in this article are wrong. 

The European Commission did not cover up its action; it was not late in informing the European Parliament; and it is not correct that there is a lack of control of budget support. However we do agree that the problem of ghost workers, and payroll system weaknesses in Ghana has to be addressed urgently. This and other key structural reforms, now being discussed with the IMF, are needed to improve Ghana's economic situation.”

He stressed that, "European taxpayers, public opinion and the European Parliament expect full transparency and accountability in the use of development assistance. This is why we welcome the recent decision by the Government of Ghana to set up an inter-ministerial committee to clean up the payroll. 

This work should be done quickly. It is crucial to eliminate all ghost workers from the payroll; to put in place systems and controls to avoid new abuses; to recover lost funds; and to take sanctions against all those found responsible for wrong-doing. If the EU is to resume its budget support to Ghana, we must be sure that we are paying for real teachers and real health workers, who will make a difference to the lives of ordinary Ghanaians".

Source: Ghana /Malik Abass Daabu (Twitter @MalikDaabu)