Ghana is introducing a biometric system to pay its public servants across the country after a piloting sting in Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Western and Volta Regions in April.
According to government officials, while speaking to CAJ News, the biometric system is being put in place to help the government improve its payroll management systems.
Biometric systems compose of hardware and software designed to measure a signature of the human body, compare it to a database, and match them to show identity then render a service as programmed, explains West Virginia University.
WVU says biometric systems are increasingly being used for law enforcement, access control, banking, and a wide range of business and administrative systems.
Other regions in Ghana that are having public servant register their information to the biometric system are in Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions. The public servants will later this month receive payment through a biometric system fitted payroll software.
A number of other servants who were not paid due to lack of their basic data in the system are set up to be paid in this round.
Enoch Cobbinah, Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, said such servants are encouraged to go to the nearest Regional Office of the Controller & Accountant General’s Department or to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in Accra for biometric registered so as they receive their payments.
Ghana has a population of around 25 million people half of which live and work in urban centres. The biometric system will help simplify their monthly salary payments
