According to the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, over the past three years 20,000 ghost names previously on the Youth and Employment (YEA) payroll have been removed.

“Youth Employment Programme, one of the most significant things they have done is that, just by doing due diligence, saved us about GHS82. 5 million a year for the last three and half years. For all the numbers that they were claimed to have been on the Youth Employment Programme, by doing an audit, about 20,000 ghosts have been exorcised from that roll and the numbers about GHS82 million a year” he said.

He made this known at the maiden nation-building updates in Accra on Wednesday.

An audit conducted by YEA further revealed that the presence of the ghost names cost the taxpayer GHS82.5 million annually.

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The YEA is mandated by law to coordinate, facilitate and supervise employment for the youth and related matters in the country.

In 2017, an internal audit carried out by YEA exposed a huge financial malfeasance believed to have cost the country GH $50 million.

The amount was believed to be a sum of unearned salaries paid to unposted beneficiaries, funds for official use which were paid into personal accounts, and procurement without adherence to due process.

Some employees of YEA were subsequently transferred to various regions following the malfeasance.