
Frank Oliver Kpodo, a former Procurement Director at Ghana’s Ministry of Defence and current Director of Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, has been implicated in a payroll audit for allegedly receiving GH¢427 million in unearned salaries over 29 months. This revelation comes from a new investigation by The Fourth Estate, based on an Auditor-General’s report covering government payroll systems from January 2023 to June 2025. The audit identified over 6,000 government employees who collectively received more than GH¢800 million in unearned salaries, with Kpodo's alleged amount representing over half of this total. The Auditor-General's 2025 Payroll Audit Report recommended the immediate removal of Kpodo and others from the government payroll and the recovery of all unearned salaries. Kpodo, who previously appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on March 31, 2026, for separate allegations, described the current claims as "worrying and surprising." He stated that his salaries were processed with verifiable pay slips and that he was unaware of any irregularities, adding that the Audit Service had not contacted him regarding the matter. He also noted that salary validation at the Ministry of Defence is managed by the Human Resource unit and the Chief Director’s office.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by GhanaWeb.
Must ReadRemarks made by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2023, where he defended Akonta Mining against allegations of illegal mining, have resurfaced. This comes after the company's owner, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment with hard labor in the Samreboi illegal mining case. In 2023, Akufo-Addo publicly stated that Akonta Mining was not involved in illegal mining activities anywhere in Ghana. An Accra High Court found Chairman Wontumi and Akonta Mining Company Limited guilty on all six counts in the Samreboi case.

Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Education, announced that a revised curriculum for kindergarten to junior high school will soon be submitted to the government for approval. The National Curriculum Review Agency NACA was tasked with reviewing the existing basic education curriculum to align it with modern educational needs. The revised curriculum, which emphasizes technology, science, engineering, and mathematics, will be formally presented to the Ministry of Education on Wednesday, July 23, 2026. It will then be forwarded to the President, Cabinet, and Parliament for consideration. The changes aim to introduce coding, electronics, artificial intelligence, and TVET into the basic education curriculum, equipping Ghanaian learners with skills for a technology-driven world.
Must ReadKenneth Ashigbey, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, has expressed satisfaction with the 20-year prison sentence handed to Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi and Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party NPP, in the Akonta Mining case. Speaking on July 20, 2026, Ashigbey stated that the judgment would serve as a deterrent to others involved in illegal mining, despite his belief that a harsher punishment could have been imposed. He hoped that other individuals, particularly 'kingpins' involved in illegal mining, would also face justice. Ashigbey urged the Mahama administration to ensure equal application of the law to all culpable parties. The High Court sentenced Chairman Wontumi to 20 years' imprisonment on each of two counts, to run concurrently, and imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units per count. Akonta Mining Limited was fined 15,000 penalty units on each of its two counts. The convictions followed the court's dismissal of a defense application to delay judgment and refer constitutional questions to the Supreme Court.