GNAT proposes privatization of payroll functions

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has proposed privatization of the preparation of the pay roll function to a different institution to save Ghana Education Service (GES) employees from the monthly trauma they go through.

It said it was not happy with the way and manner the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) had been handling personnel emoluments of the GES staff lately.

An official press release signed by Mr Peter Korda, the Public Relations Officer, in Accra on Thursday, said GNAT was deeply worried about the fact that since the inception of the Single Spine Regime in the Ghana Education Service, employees in the Service had known no peace.

“If what we are experiencing cannot be corrected immediately, then the obvious solution lies in the privatization of the preparation of the pay roll function to a different institution to save GES employees from the monthly trauma they have to go through."

It said offices of the headquarters of the GNAT had been inundated with calls since the end of February and March, 2012 from teachers all over the country, complaining bitterly about non-payment of salary, reduction in salary and non-payment of salary arrears, among other issues.

“If what is happening is not due to systems failure, then it may be attributed to some people’s lack of understanding of the role wages and salaries play in National Security,” it said.

“We don’t want education workers to go on the streets before institutions sit up to perform their assigned roles. People at the helm of affairs should be proactive enough to ensure industrial peace,” the statement said.

The statement said another area of concern to the GNAT was the Controller and Accountant-General’s inability to provide pay slips to GES employees to know the amounts they had been credited with before the end of each month.

. The statement said: “Our teachers need to know the actual amount they have been credited with before getting to their banks to collect their salaries.

“The GNAT finds it unacceptable the fact that the Controller and Accountant-General for the past two months, has not been able to provide pay slips to GES employees to assuage some of the anxieties that have accompanied salary and arrears payment in the Service.”

The statement said all attempts made by GNAT to get explanations to this situation from CAGD had proved futile as officials at the Controller’s outfit remained tight-lipped over what was happening and expected the Unions rather to explain the Pay Master’s difficulties to their members, a function which should be performed by their Public Relations outfit.

“The GNAT holds the view that, with proper supervision by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department will provide better service to government employees in the area of pay administration,” it added.**