‘No Ghana card, no salary’ directive to government workers unfortunate – GNAT

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has joined calls for the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) to reconsider its decision to withhold payment of salaries of government workers without Ghana cards.

GNAT, in a statement, insisted that the decision is a lazy approach towards addressing lapses in the government’s payroll system.

“We wish to state that the said public notice is not only unfortunate, but preposterous, egregious, and intimidating and that Ghanaian workers would not stand such knee-jerk approaches to solve someone else’s laissez-faire attitude towards resolving perceived shortcomings and lapses in the [payroll] system.”

Government workers risk losing their December 2021 salaries if they have no Ghana card.

They have thus been given about a month and a half to register for the Ghana Card or be denied their salaries.

The move is said to be part of the Government of Ghana’s efforts to deliver a speedy, secured, and verified payroll service to government employees and pensioners while reducing the risk of undeserving payments or claims.

GNAT believes the National Identification Authority (NIA) should bear the responsibility of securing Ghana cards for government workers.

“We wish to emphasize that it is the onus of the NIA to ensure all workers secure the NIA cards, so the NIA should liaise with the CAGD, the employers, and the workers themselves to have the cards issued them (the workers) and save them (the workers) from being held hostage, by the CAGD. We are not happy that workers would be held to ransom harassed, as a result of the operational lapses of both the NIA and the CAGD.”

GNAT, therefore, advised the acting Controller and Accountant General to consult with the relevant employers to “help facilitate the process and stop intimidating and harassing the workers.”

The National Identification Authority has justified the directive despite several concerns from various groups and individuals.