Accountant General appeals to pensioners

Suhum (ER) Jan. 22, GNA- Mr. Christian Tetteh Sotie, Controller and Accountant General on Tuesday appealed to members of the Ghana Government Pensioners Association to forward any grievances they may have to the office for redress instead of resorting to the media.

"When you send your grievances to the press, they may perhaps be distorted and instead of your problems being solved, you are rather compounding them". Mr Sotie, who gave the advice at a meeting with the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District Ghana Pensioners Association at Suhum urged them to approach the office whenever they have a problem, adding that, nobody would be victimized.

The meeting followed allegations by the association that the Controller and Accountant General's Department were refusing to pay them their 50 per cent minimum pension adjustment since October last year and that other districts, which bribed some officials of the department had their monies paid to them. Mr Sotie explained that the delay in payment of the pensions last year was due to power outages and the re-denomination of the cedi, which put a lot of constraints on the department, adding that some of the delays could also be attributed to inability of some banks to pay pensioners on time.

He refuted allegations that the delays in paying pensioners was as a result of no monies in the government treasury and said salaries of workers, pensions and all allowances due to public and Civil Servants had been budgeted for.

Mr Sotie said it was the wish of the Department that payment of pensions should be as smooth as possible and advised pensioners to be bold to expose any officer in the department who may demand bribe before attending to his official duties. Mr. Emmanuel O. Ashley, National Chairman, Ghana Government Pensioners' Association advised members to check their facts before granting interviews to the media, saying he did not want a situation where the association would be seen to be destroying the reputation of the Department.

Mr. Michael Kofi Mensah, District Chief Executive for Suhum Kraboa Coaltar suggested to the department to have a communication unit to be able to explain issues to pensioners on regular basis. Mr Felix Duah, Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District Chairman of the Association urged the Department to take steps to pay all pensioners their increment at the same time instead of paying some promptly while others were delayed.

He also called of the Department to sanction personnel whose aim was to fleece pensioners of their little income.