Internal Auditors threaten strike

Accra, June 29, GNA - The Eastern Regional Branch of the Internal Auditors Association of Ghana has threatened to embark on a sit down strike from August 3, over claims of unpaid salary arrears. In a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday, they said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning approved new salary levels for civil servants whose payment took effect from January 1, 2008 but internal auditors were denied such new levels.

They said the Association had made several efforts to meet the Internal Audit Agency, Local Government Service, Head of Civil Service and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to address the problem, but these failed to yield positive results. However, GNA checks at the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) have revealed that the internal auditors had no case. Mr Seidu Kotomah, Head of Payroll at the CAGD, explained that "the Internal Auditors do not fall within the same salary structure with civil servants and that service conditions of civil servants differ from those of the internal auditors".

He said the internal auditors in 2007 opted out of the civil service salary structure and went ahead to negotiate a different structure which they were currently enjoying. Mr Kotomah said the CAGD had on several occasions explained the issues to the association but members had refused to appreciate it.