Government To Use Biometric Data To Pay Workers

Public sector workers will now be paid using their biometric data, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has said.

This follows the completion of the biometric payroll registration exercise in six regions and the expectation that a similar exercise in the remaining four regions will be completed in July this year

The biometric registration of public sector workers has been completed in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Central, Volta and Western regions, while that of the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions will be completed by the end of July this year.

An official statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in Accra yesterday said, "The biometric payroll data will be used to effect salary payments as soon as the exercise is completed in the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions by the end of July 2012."

The statement, issued by Mr Abdul Hakim Ahmed, the Media Liaison of the ministry, said a similar exercise was completed for pensioners in January 2012, with the resultant database having been used to effect pension payments since March 2012.

It said a mop-up exercise was ongoing to capture genuine pensioners who were inadvertently not captured during the exercise.

"The ministry, therefore, wishes to inform all public sector workers on government payroll that for the six regions so far covered under the biometric payroll registration, the database will be used to effect salary payments beginning from July 2012," it said.

According to the statement, a mop-up exercise would be undertaken in all regional capitals to capture the biometric payroll data of genuine public sector workers who were inadvertently not captured during the registration.

The exact location of the mop-up centres would be communicated to public sector workers in due course.

Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana