The Government of Guinea is intensifying efforts to restore transparency and accountability within its civil service, following the revelation that more than 11,000 fictitious employees were draining state resources through fraudulent payroll practices.
A biometric census conducted in 2021 uncovered the staggering scale of the problem, exposing ghost workers who were collecting monthly salaries without ever reporting for duty. The fraud cost the state over €26 million annually—a significant blow to public finances in a country grappling with development challenges.
To combat this systemic dysfunction, Guinea has adopted a bold new approach: the Single Administrative Management and Payroll File (FUGAS), a digital platform launched in July 2024. Designed to modernize the management of human resources and payroll within the public sector, FUGAS aims to centralize operations and improve oversight.
The platform is managed by the Ministry of Labor and the Civil Service in partnership with various sectoral ministries. Now, in a strategic shift to enhance the system’s reach, the ministry is calling for the active participation of financial controllers throughout the process.
“What we’re doing today is ensuring that all key players take their place in FUGAS. Its implementation is taking shape. Instead of them intervening downstream, they will now be upstream. And the positive consequences are numerous: we’re going to detect many irregularities and anomalies that are currently costing the state dearly.
It’s these anomalies that actually generate savings. This is a major change,” said Karamba Guirassy, Director General of the Civil Service.
Since its implementation, FUGAS has already unearthed several troubling irregularities, including double bonus payments and inflated salaries for certain officials—payments made without proper oversight or authorization.
In addition to payroll anomalies, field verification missions have identified over 6,000 public agents absent from critical sectors such as health and education. Authorities stress that these absences severely undermine public service delivery.
“The platform allows for the management of the entire career cycle: from recruitment to retirement and pension management. At the salary management level, a dedicated interface has been developed to enable the relevant stakeholders, particularly financial controllers, to intervene effectively.
They will thus be able to access the system, examine all salary statements in detail, identify anomalies, and validate the reliability of payment transactions, based on the civil service file.
This is why the active involvement of financial controllers in the FUGAS system is now essential to strengthen control and ensure the effectiveness of the reform,” stated Minister of the Civil Service François Bourouno.
The government’s push to institutionalize FUGAS marks a pivotal step toward ending payroll fraud and building a more efficient and transparent public administration.
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