The Ministry of Education will explore all available options to recover salary payments made to 13 ghost employees after they were identified through an auditing and verification process.
While responding to questions during a press conference, Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro said the recovery is allowable under the Government Financial Management Act, and there are various forms of recovery that can be explored.
The Minister says the issue was first highlighted in the 2024 Auditor-General’s report, and there is an ongoing process of verification and auditing.
Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary for Education Timoci Bure says this issue could have been due to communication from the schools to Human Resources, as there were some officers who left the system without advising the Ministry of Education.
He says some of these movements happened years ago, and the system could not pick up those movements.
However, Permanent Secretary for Education Navin Raj says the total amount paid to the 13 ghost employees is not available yet and would be provided after the verification process.
