NAGRAT expresses dissatisfaction with Controller and Accountant General’s threats
A decision by the Controller and Accountant General to after December 1, not pay the monthly salaries of government workers who do not have the Ghana Card has not resonated well with some labour unions.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has expressed their displeasure about the decision with its President, Angel Carbonu saying it is absolutely wrong for the Accountant General to issue such a threat.
He further deemed the directive harsh and posited that the directive was meant to deprive government workers of their due for work done.
Mr Carbonu also added that the directive is utterly in bad taste and must be reversed.
“We have received a letter to that effect and I must say that it is displeasing, to say the least. In fact, we have what we call the workman and compensation principle. The principle states that once it is proven that the workman has done his job, it is the duty of the beneficiary of that job to compensate the workman. This penchant of threatening not to pay a worker regardless of whether the worker has done his duty to push through a policy is absolutely wrong, and it ought to stop.”
According to the Government of Ghana, this move is part of efforts to deliver a speedy, secured, and verified payroll service to government employees and pensioners while reducing the risk of undeserving payments or claims.
But Mr Angel Carbonu is of the view that this is never right while adding that NAGRAT will soon engage the appropriate authorities to ensure that members are not disadvantaged as a result of the order.
“If you want all Ghanaians to register for the Ghana card, why do you threaten me not to pay my salary when it can be proven that I have done the work that I’m supposed to do. So they want to disregard the work that someone has done over the Ghana card. What they are doing is to compel me through threats to register for the Ghana Card,” Mr Carbonu.
“We will write to them and tell them to stop threatening us with non-payment of salaries that we are due. I am not against the acquisition of the Ghana card but the way they are going about it is absolutely wrong, so they should stop those things”, Mr Carbonu stressed.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
