Government workers whose National Identification Authority (NIA) details are missing or invalid on the government payroll face salary suspension from September 15, 2026, as authorities intensify efforts to clean up the public sector payroll.
The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that all employees have accurate NIA numbers captured in the payroll system ahead of the deadline.
The directive is part of preparations for a nationwide employee re-verification exercise designed to ensure that only properly verified employees remain on the government payroll.
According to the CAGD, the upgraded Employee Payslip (E-Payslip) system has revealed discrepancies between NIA information captured on the government payroll and records held by the NIA.
Some employees also have no NIA details recorded on the payroll system.
Controller and Accountant-General Kwasi Agyei, in a separate notice, warned that employees without valid NIA details would have their salaries suspended effective September 15.
HR Departments Given Key Role
The CAGD has tasked Human Resource departments with identifying employees whose NIA information is missing or incorrect and facilitating the necessary corrections.
Where an employee’s NIA number requires correction, the Human Resource officer must submit the employee’s application for correction together with a cover letter from the head of the institution authorising the correction or insertion.
The documents are to be submitted to the CAGD for validation.
HR officers have also been instructed to check their institutions’ corporate email accounts for lists of employees flagged as having “No NIA” details and take immediate steps to resolve the discrepancies.
The Department has urged institutions not to wait until the deadline before addressing the issues.
No Need to Submit Physical NIA Cards
The CAGD has also clarified that employees are no longer required to submit or present physical copies of their NIA cards for inspection.
The directive follows Regulation 9 of the National Identity Register (Amended) Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2523).
Instead, workers are expected to ensure that their NIA numbers and other identification details are correctly captured in the government payroll system through their respective Human Resource departments.
The Department is urging all government employees to verify their payroll information and resolve any discrepancies before September 15 to avoid interruptions in salary payments.
The exercise forms part of broader efforts to strengthen payroll controls, reconcile employee records with national identification data and support the planned nationwide re-verification of government employees.
