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President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe is calling on the Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper to explain why he disobeyed Kwabena Duffuor in relation to the management of Ghana’s payroll system.

Former Minister of Finance, Kwabena Duffuor, during his regime, issued a directive to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) to move all payroll data from IPPD2 unto the ‘Akatua’ system (IPPD 3), which is believed to have stringent controls to check perceived ‘ghost names.’

Meanwhile, an exposé by IMANI Ghana showed that the payroll system is still bloated with ghost names despite various interventions.

But, the CAGD has blamed it on the ‘Akatua’ system designed by SOFTribe saying it has same challenges that confronted the IPPD2.

However, in defending their product, SOFTribe released a number of documents exchanged by the two institutions including one from Seth Tekper, which ordered for the requisite control on the Akatua system to be temporarily disabled while steps are taken to correct the data.

However, speaking on Citi Fms news analysis programme, The Big Issue, Franklin Cudjoe questioned why Seth Tekper took that decision saying, “I don’t have any problem with Mr Seth Tekper, but I want to understand why he took a decision that is causing us more harm now. I want to understand why the finance minister disobeyed his superior.”

He said development partners have lost trust in Ghana because of Mr Tekper’s decision.

He said, “now we have a situation where our donor partners are withholding funds and are saying that we can’t trust your budget, we can't trust the things you are telling us and it is affecting us. This is a serious matter and we need to understand it properly,” insisting that “I don’t think this matter must go away lightly.”

The Controller and Accountant General’s Department has however threatened legal actions against SOFTribe for releasing the documents.

The Controller and Accountant General, Grace Francisca Adzroe at an earlier press argued that the publication of these materials threaten the security of their system, their staff and Ghanaian workers whose information is captured in these sensitive materials.