Ghana: Salaries suspended if Ghana Card data is invalid

Starting Tuesday, September 15, Ghana will suspend the salaries of public sector employees whose data from the National Identification Authority (NIA) is not valid in the payroll system. This measure precedes a new nationwide employee verification operation.

In a directive dated August 24, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) instructed the human resources departments of ministries, departments, and agencies to ensure that their employees’ NIA numbers match the official data. Controller and Accountant-General Kwasi Agyei specified that employees without valid NIA information would have their salaries suspended starting September 15.

The decision follows discrepancies identified after the rollout of an upgraded version of the electronic payroll portal. Some NIA numbers recorded in the payroll do not match the data from the identification authority, while other records lack any NIA information.

To rectify a situation, the affected employee must go through their human resources department. The request for correction or addition of the NIA number must be accompanied by a letter from the head of the institution and submitted to the CAGD for validation.

The department reminds that a physical copy of the Ghana Card is no longer required for this procedure. Employees must primarily ensure that their identity information recorded in the payroll system is corrected, in accordance with the revised rules of the national identification register.

The CAGD had launched a new payroll system in February that uses the NIA number to secure access to salary data. According to its 2026 schedule, salaries for the month of September are set to begin being credited by banks on September 25.