NIA officers demand payment of allowances.

Takoradi, Aug. 21, GNA - Personnel engaged in the just ended registration exercise of the National Identification Authority (NIA) in the Takoradi sub-metro, have called for the immediate payment of allowances promised them without further delay. They have also demanded that any deduction from the original amount to be paid to them would not be countenanced and would be met with "stiff resistance". Mr Emmanuel Mbiah, a registration officer and Mr Emmanuel K. Jackson, an assistant registration officer complained bitterly to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) over the continual delay and said they would advise themselves if the authorities fail to pay the allowances due them.

They said before they were contacted they were assured that registration officers would be paid 150 Ghana cedis, while assistants would receive 130 Ghana cedis, with the queue controller taking 120 Ghana cedis.

However, they have been told that they would receive their allowances short of between 24 and 30 Ghana cedis each, but no explanations were given for the sudden change in the allowances. Mr Mbiah said: "We were supposed to be given an appointment letter before the start of work explaining what was due us, but "we were not given, but we sacrificed to work for our nation". He alleged that the personnel worked under scorching sun, without food or water.

"We have to sit all day and work, and after the exercise look at how they are treating us," he said, asking, "is it fair". Also, Mr Mbiah alleged that personnel were not picked to the various centres on time and that it made their work tedious since there was often long queue everyday.

The 222 personnel for the programme are asking the authorities to reconsider their decision and stop their resolve to deduct between 24 Ghana cedis and 30 Ghana cedis from their allowances. In an interview with Mr Hayford Ampomah, Coordinator of the NIA said, the allowances of the registration officers have not been reduced as they were alleging.

He said each individual was supposed to receive 10 Ghana cedis per day during the exercise, and since the exercise lasted for 12 days in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, they would be paid according to the number of days that they worked. He explained that registration officers who undertook the exercise in the Central Region worked for 15 days and were paid 10 Ghana cedis each per day.