The leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has criticized the decision by the the Controller and Accountant General’s Department not to pay public sector workers who have not registered for the Ghana card effective December 1st 2021.
A statement from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, has hinted that public sector workers who have not registered for the Ghana card will not be paid effective December 1st 2021.
The new directive forms part of government’s efforts to deliver a speedy, secured and verified payroll service to government employees and pensioners while reducing the risk of undeserving payment or claims.
The Controller and Accountant General’s Department has since asked public sector workers without the card to register before the given date.
According to the statement, the Controller and Accountant General’s Department is also working with the National Identification Authority to harmonize the database of public sector workers so as to facilitate biometric and unique identification of all workers on the government payroll.
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“Effective December 1, workers on the government of Ghana Payroll who have not registered with the NIA will not be paid. This is part of efforts to deliver a speedy, secured and verified payroll service to government employees and pensioners while reducing the risk of undeserving payment or claims. By this notice, all existing and prospective government workers are to ensure they are registered with the NIA and obtain their identity numbers,” excerpts of the statement read.
Reacting to the issue, the Deputy Secretary-General of Trades Union Congress (TUC), Joshua Ansah says the union was not consulted before the decision.
He noted that laws governing salaries must be respected and that the Controller must do the needful and reverse the decision.
“The laws governing salaries must be respected and TUC says no no to it and we are calling the Controller to do the needful. Doing the needful means that all the stakeholders must be brought on board to decide on the issue because Accra and Kumasi are not the only places that make up Ghana. We have remote areas,” Joshua Ansah added.
In June 2021, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) also replaced merged contributors unique scheme identification numbers with the Ghana Card identification numbers.
The process of merging the two identification numbers is said to run until December 31, this year.
The merger is expected to improve the ease of doing business, as it will create the convenience of using only one card for all transactions.
The merger is in compliance with Regulation 7 (1) of the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012, LI 2111, and a directive from the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu Boatemaa | [email protected]