Government employees who do not have valid National Identification Authority (NIA) details correctly captured on the government payroll system risk having their salaries suspended from September 15, 2026.
The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) says the measure is part of preparations for a nationwide employee re-verification exercise aimed at ensuring that payroll records accurately correspond with employees’ identity information.
In a statement dated August 24, 2026, the CAGD directed Human Resource departments across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to review payroll records and correct discrepancies involving employees’ NIA details.
Controller and Accountant-General Kwasi Agyei separately warned that employees without valid NIA information on the payroll would have their salaries suspended from the September 15 deadline.
Why some employees are affected
The directive follows the rollout of an upgraded Employee Payslip (E-Payslip) system.
According to the CAGD, the upgrade has exposed discrepancies between some employees’ NIA information and the records held by the NIA.
In some cases, the NIA number recorded on the government payroll does not match the employee’s official NIA records.
Other employees have no NIA details captured on the payroll system at all.
These discrepancies have also prevented some affected workers from accessing their electronic payslips.
The CAGD says correcting the information is therefore necessary before the nationwide employee re-verification exercise begins.
What Human Resource departments must do
Human Resource departments have been directed to identify employees whose NIA information is missing or incorrect and initiate the necessary corrections.
Where an NIA number needs to be corrected or inserted, the relevant Human Resource department must submit the employee’s application for correction to the CAGD.
The application must be accompanied by a cover letter from the head of the institution authorising the correction or insertion.
The documents will then be reviewed and validated by the CAGD.
Human Resource officers have also been instructed to monitor their institutions’ corporate email accounts for lists of employees flagged as having “No NIA” details.
They are expected to take action to resolve the affected employees’ records before the deadline.
Employees no longer need to submit physical Ghana Cards
The CAGD has also clarified the documentation required to address NIA-related discrepancies.
It reminded employees that, under Regulation 9 of the National Identity Register (Amended) Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2523), physical copies of NIA cards are no longer required for submission and inspection.
Instead, employees must ensure that their NIA numbers and other relevant identity details are correctly captured in the government payroll system through their respective Heads of Human Resources.
This means employees should work through their institutions’ Human Resource departments rather than relying on physical copies of their identity cards for the payroll verification process.
September 15 deadline
The CAGD has urged government institutions and employees to resolve outstanding National Identification Authority discrepancies before September 15, 2026.
Employees whose records remain without valid NIA details after the deadline could have their salaries suspended.
The Department says the directive is intended to support the upcoming nationwide employee re-verification exercise and improve the accuracy of government payroll records.
For government workers, the immediate priority is therefore to confirm that their NIA information on the payroll is accurate and matches their official records.
