Gov’t workers use 200 years in paying loans – Audit report

Some government employees who took huge loans to buy personal cars could use more than 200 years to settle the debts.

The 2011 Auditor-General’s Report, which reveals this, says such unspecified outstanding vehicle loan balances pre-supposes that the affected employees will suffer monthly deductions in perpetuity.

The monthly deductions ranging between GH¢102 and GH¢525 affect about 37 employees who are scattered at the various Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The report has described the bizarre financial arrangement as ‘irregular.’ Another startling revelation is the case of seven employees, whose vehicle loan balances were described as doubtful by the report.

The first is an Audit Service staff whose loan balance GH¢ 826,714.08 with an monthly deduction of GH¢ 120.73 will need 571 years to clear the loan while another staff from the Controller and Accountant-General Department CAGD/OGMT whose loan balance GH¢615, 635.57 with a monthly deduction of GH¢111.95 will need 458 years to pay the loan.

Another staff from the Volta Regional Administration whose loan balance GH¢ 552,772.18 with a monthly deduction of GH¢ 161.99 will need 284 years to pay the debt while another staff of Audit Service whose loan balance GH¢ 46,453.55 with a monthly deduction of GH¢ 211.97 will need 18 years to clear the loan.

Three other Audit Service staff whose loan balance GH¢ 40,161.78, GH¢ 38,883.22 and GH¢ 24.435.19 all with a monthly deduction of GH¢ 211.97 each will need 16, 15 and 10 years respectively to pay the loans.

According to the report, these loan balances “are unreliable and cast doubt on the reliability of the total advances of GH¢ 12,475,712 disclosed in the 2011 Public Accounts. The report recommended a review of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) to check the ineffective verifications and review mechanisms associated with payroll processing.

The CAGD, when queried by the auditor general, attributed the anomaly to staff whose salaries were suspended. “The large loan balances in the IPPD System are balances of staff whose salaries had been suspended,” it said.

It added that “on re-activation of the staff records after the redenomination of the cedi, the balances still reflected the old currency. CAGD has worked over the period to correct these errors.”

“However, the ledgers which form the basis of reporting on vehicle loans in the Public Accounts are maintained outside of the payroll system and reflect the re-denominated balances,” it added.

The CAGD concluded that “the actual balances as at December 31, 2011 of the staff noted in the audit observation and which are incorporated in the Public Accounts are available for your examination.”