Deputy CEO of the Forestry Commission, Elikem Kotoko, has thrown his weight behind Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, praising him for demonstrating what he describes as “serious leadership” in contrast to his predecessor, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Monday, July 28, Kotoko minced no words in critiquing the former Finance Minister.
“He was not clad in white and giving us Bible quotations,” he said pointedly. “The accompanied Bible verses were a complete toast and total variation with the personality involved at the time, who has now been declared a fugitive.”
According to Kotoko, the days of symbolic posturing must be over. “It gives me some sense of relief that for once, we have a Finance Minister who is serious and taking Ghanaians seriously,” he stated.
His remarks come in the wake of a major payroll audit disclosed by Dr. Forson during the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament.
The Finance Minister revealed that the Ghana Audit Service had uncovered over 14,000 ghost names on the government payroll, with 53,311 ‘separated staff’—including retired, reassigned, or deceased persons—still drawing salaries.
Dr. Forson added that this cleanup is part of a broader fiscal consolidation strategy.
“We engaged the Ghana Audit Service to undertake a nationwide payroll [audit]… The Audit Service expects to recover a minimum of GH¢150.4 million in unearned salary from the separated staff over the period of 2023 and 2024 alone,” he told Parliament.
