We will close all contracts before we leave power – Baba Jamal

Deputy Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Baba Jamal, says the outgoing government led by President John Dramani Mahama will not be distracted by the outcome of the December 7 general elections to stop all negotiations they started some months ago with various public institutions and groups as being pursued by the in-coming government.

To Jamal, once the laws of the land permits the out-going government to continue with its responsibilities until the midnight of January 6, 2016, any contract or negotiations before the table of the government shall be signed or closed before they leave power.

“We shall close all contracts and or negotiations we started five or four months ago”, he noted.

Jamal made this observation in interaction with Accra-based Okay FM, Wednesday, December 21, 2016.

His comment was in response to claims by the in-coming government that President Mahama-led out-going government is signing numerous contracts and increasing salaries of some government workers just two weeks before leaving office, a move many see will overburden the incoming administration.

Government has increased allowance for National Service personnel from GHC 355.00 to a little over GHC500.00 as well as salary adjustment of salaries for some public sector institutions.

There are also claims of the signing of some dubious contracts, one of which is between the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation with SCL, a waste management company with millions of dollars.

But Jamal reacting to those claims said there is nothing wrong going ahead to conclude all those deals since negotiations started some months ago.

To him the previous NPP administration led by John Agyekum Kufour signed the Single Spine Salary Structure on the eve of the inauguration of then President-elect John Evans Attta Mills. Nobody, he said, questioned the move and therefore wondered why people are raising issues with deals the outgoing government is closing.