The Legacy arrears have not been paid, we will go back to Akufo-Addo - GNAT

The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah has sent word to teachers whose monies are locked up in the Legacy arrears to disregard the claim by the vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, that their monies have been paid.

According to Mr. Musah, GNAT has received distressed calls from aggrieved teachers who are wondering why they haven’t received their fair share of the monies that the government claimed to have released.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb on Friday, August 28, 2020, the General Secretary of GNAT told its members to exercise patience as they are still in talks with the Ghana Education Service on the way forward for payment of lock-up arrears.

“The Legacy arrears have not been paid… We want to place on record that the monies have not been paid and the process is ongoing and at the end of the day, we will go back to the president to report to him.”

GNAT has hinted that they might pay a second visit to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo if nothing fruitful comes up from their talks with GES.

Vice president Dr. Bawumia in his statement during the launch of their party’s manifesto indicated that all teachers in the country have been paid the arrears owned them.

But speaking on the back of his claim, Mr. Musah asked its members to disregard reports that the arrears have been settled.

“Some of these teachers are asking if we have collected the monies and kept it at our National Head office. I tell them that I haven’t collected any money. The money has not been paid and we are working on it… anytime the money is paid, we will report back to them,” he said.

Adding: “About a month ago, Ghana Education Service invited us to a meeting. They claimed that the figures we are coming out with was far more than what they have and so there is a need to see how best the issues could be resolved and so last week there was another meeting where the GES indicated that, they will come out with a template… anybody who is not within their data will either go to the District or Regional Education Office to go and complain…that is where we are and the Ghana Education Service is in the process of writing that particular letter and lo and behold the vice president went on air and made those statements that the monies had been paid.”

The Legacy arrears which sprang from 2012 to 2016 includes the over two years’ salary and promotion arrears of some 45,512 teachers.