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Political scientist and Head of the Centre for European Studies at the University of Ghana, Kwame Asah-Asante, has called for stronger internal controls following the Auditor-General’s payroll error.
He said institutions handling sensitive public data must apply rigorous verification standards before releasing reports.
“You are a journalist, you check, check, double-check, because the information goes everywhere,” he said, drawing a comparison with media practices.
The Auditor-General’s Office recently admitted that it wrongly attributed GH¢427 million in unearned salaries to Frank Oliver Kpodo, describing it as a transpositional error.
Dr Asah-Asante said such mistakes are difficult to contain once published. “Imagine you are saying sorry after the information has gone to almost every part of the world,” he noted.
He urged the institution to strengthen its internal systems. “They should ensure their checks and balances work very well so that these errors do not happen again,” he said.
While acknowledging that errors can occur, he stressed that prevention must be the priority. “The next time, they must do so well not to repeat it,” he added.