Accra, March 11,GNA- The worst thing an employer could ever do to a worker was to delay his salary but to deny him is unpardonable, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Deputy Minister of Finance-Designate, said on Friday.
He said the Government was doing all that it could to streamline the payroll system in order to pay salaries with precision and on time. Mr Agyeman-Manu was answering questions at a public hearing of Parliamentary appointment Committee in Accra.
Mr Joseph Yaani Labik, a member of the Committee, had commented on the frustrations certain workers in his Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo Constituency go through before receiving their slashed salaries.
The Nominee said the current payroll system is outdated and was being replaced by a DFID founded system, which would erase the problems. On alleged slashing of budgetary estimates of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA), he said sometimes, slashing was the most rational thing to do when resources did not match expenditure.
He said Government had always made it a policy to pay salaries before even attempting to cut down certain expenditure. The nominee said the new tax regime, which anticipated cuts, was aimed at putting money into private and corporate hands. He said the Government had gathered money from taxes to build funds and avenues to push the private sector to grow.
On the taxes imposed on imported poultry, which was never enforced, he said it was a mistake, "perhaps it was an error of judgement". He said the Government was investing heavily into sports to prepare the grounds for CAN 2008 (African Nations Cup 2008).
Later, Dr Mrs Gladys Norley Ashitey, Deputy Minister of Health-Designate and Miss Susana Akosua Akurama Mensah, Deputy Eastern Regional Minister- Designate, were vetted.
