Report by Nana POKU
The corridors of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department are seething with discontent and ready to explode any time soon over unpaid annual allowances.
This emanates from complaints of staff that for three years they have not been paid annual allowances.
However, a highly placed management source have stated that even though the allowances have been outstanding, they are due to be paid in the very shortest possible time.
“We are currently engaging with the new Finance Minister and assurances have been given that the allowances would be paid within the next month to six weeks. So we have engaged workers on the matter and it will be resolved soon,” the source stated.
A source among the staff disclosed to this reporter that the various categories of staff have annual honorarium or bonus that cushions them at the end of the year to tide them over.
Incidentally, the source stated that this is the only allowance enjoyed by the entire staff at the office and nothing else.
The source however stated that from 2021 to date, the allowances have been withheld without any tangible explanation from the Accountant General.
The source stated that the matter was reported to the vice president when he met the staff last year, but still nothing concrete is in sight.
According the anonymous complainant, the vice president told them that, he will talk to the then Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta to pay them all arrears accrued but the minister did not fulfil the obligation before leaving office this year.
They postulated that that is the allowance some of them use to pay for their studies fees to better their education, buy plots of land, pay their children’s school fees, buy their cars, etc because their monthly salary is not too good.
The allowance is paid once a year, and it is calculated as a percentage of their annual basic salary.
After payment, the government deducts 5% tax from it before they receive what is due them.
The source stated that all the workers of the CAGD across the country are poised to take action in due course if the allowances are not paid before December 7th.
They are threatening industrial action even though their conditions of service prohibit such an action.
They are, therefore, making a passionate appeal to the President to step in and tell the Ministry of Finance to fulfil that obligation to avoid the intended action.
MANAGEMENT REACTION
The highly placed management source however stated that they are quite aware of the problem and have been working feverishly to get the allowance paid.
He accepted as true that the allowance has not been paid for a number of years, but said that all efforts would be made to settle all arrears within the shortest possible time.
“We assure our Staff that we are in the same boat with them. We recognize their invaluable contributions to national development and assure them that the new Finance Minister has shown great commitment to resolving such situations at the earliest opportunity. They should be rest assured that we will resolve the matter sooner than later,” he said.
