The Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) is under fire after revelations emerged that it continued to pay the salary of a deceased staff member for 26 months, resulting in a financial loss of nearly GH¢1.5 million to the state.
This shocking development came to light during a sitting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday, September 29, 2025.
According to the 2025 Auditor-General’s report, the hospital disbursed unearned salaries totaling GH¢1,449,000, with only a fraction—GH¢303,558.68, representing approximately 21% recovered so far.
Hospital officials, appearing before the Committee, admitted lapses in internal controls. Dr Emmanuel Sena Kwasi Donkor, Director of Administration at TTH, acknowledged the failure and appealed for support from Parliament to retrieve the outstanding funds.
“We were able to recover some amounts. Before we got here, we had received letters from some banks stating that they had stopped transferring the funds to the government chest,” Dr Donkor told the Committee.
He further revealed that the hospital had referred the matter to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and submitted files on the individuals implicated. “EOCO has written back requesting the files of the people involved, and we have submitted them,” he added.
However, PAC members expressed deep dissatisfaction with the hospital’s explanation, pointing to severe weaknesses in its validation processes.
Ranking Member of the Committee, Samuel Atta-Mills, sharply criticized the hospital’s oversight, citing the specific case of the late Habib Napare, whose salary continued to be processed more than two years after his death.
“Habib Napare – date of separation was 2022. This guy had died. Didn’t you go to the funeral? And you validated this dead person for 26 months? And now you are coming to tell Parliament to do what?” Atta-Mills questioned angrily.
The Committee has since demanded a full review of the hospital’s payroll system and warned that such systemic failures contribute significantly to public financial losses.
PAC called for tighter internal controls, regular audits, and greater accountability from public institutions to safeguard the public purse.
