Tension at GRA

Junior Staff of the Valued Added Tax (VAT) Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) are demanding their pound of flesh from their management over their six months unpaid allowances.

The junior staff consisting of mainly drivers, security officers and cleaners who have been calling into DAILY GUIDE offices said their over-time allowances have not been paid since April, 2012, a situation which has brought untold hardship on them and their families.

According to them, several appeals to impress upon management to intervene have fallen into deaf ears since management has shown no interest in their concerns.

The angry GRA junior staff has therefore threatened to embark on a nation-wide protest in the coming weeks to register their displeasure about the disturbing happenings at their outfit if management failed this time round to ensure the immediate release of their unpaid allowances.

“We are not happy at all because some of us wake up around 3:00 a.m. to pick staff and get back home around 9:00 p.m., and they are refusing to give us what is due us,” one irate staff said.

They accused a senior officer at the accounts department, one Owusu Afriyie, as being the cause of their woes.

They told DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity that they have reliably been informed that Mr. Afriyie, who handled their allowances, had finished processing their documents and had intentionally pushed the documents under his desk just to punish them.

They also accused a section of the management members for conniving with Mr. Afriyie to intentionally frustrate them.

According to them, GRA had the funds to pay them any amount the company owed them since they generated all the revenue of the state. However, some officials in their personal interest have decided not to pay their legitimate over-time allowances which have accrued for six months.