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The Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) has initiated a process of aligning the payroll database with the National Identification Authority (NIA), Mr Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, the Controller and Accountant General, said on Thursday.

The move is geared towards facilitating proper and efficient data validation to reduce the incidence of unqualified persons having their names on the payroll.

Consequently, more than 3,000 public sector accountants were last year, trained and certified on International Public Sector Accounting Standards to improve the capacity of staff towards enhanced service delivery.

Mr Kwaning-Bosompem disclosed this at the Annual Conference of the CAGD held in Cape Coast on the theme: "The Role of CAGD in Advancing the Digitalisation Agenda of Ghana".

The three-day conference brings together selected accounts staff from metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies and departments to assess the performance of the CAGD and to proffer solutions to its operational challenges.

Also in Attendance are dignitaries from the private and public sectors including seasoned accountants and financial management experts.

Mr Kwaning-Bosompem said the intervention was in tandem with Ghana's digitalisation drive as an effective means of ensuring efficiency, value for money and protecting the public purse.

An efficient national database would empower statutory institutions to systematically carry out their mandate to reduce corruption and spur rapid socioeconomic development, he said.

Narrowing the impact of digitalization on CAGD operations, Mr Kwaning-Bosompem said the Public Financial Management Act, 2016, Act 921 mandated the CAGD to be responsible for the classification and management of value books to be used by assemblies to ensure efficiency in revenue generation and reduction in leakages.

"Digitalisation in the accounting field is about incorporating interactive technologies and transformation of the accounting process to be much more agile, practical and assertive in ensuring value for money, effectiveness and efficiency in the management of public funds," he noted.

Further to that, Mr Kwaning-Bosompem said the Department had adopted the initialisation agenda through the electronic enhancement in business processes via the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).

Other initiatives are; the Third Party Referencing System (TPRS), Electronic Salary Payment Voucher (ESPV) validation system, and the Electronic-Pay slip system.

He commended the staff for continuously exhibiting a positive attitude and commitment to duty and urged them not to relent.