Tema Metro National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) President, Hamidu Apandago Mahamadu, has revealed the awful circumstances personnel in the Central Region are going through.
According to Mahamudu, in September 2023, service personnel in the region were paid GHC155 as allowance instead of the approved GHC715.57.
When Hamidu Apandago Mahamadu was asked why, he replied, “we cannot tell”.
He revealed that the Central Regional Executive, Cape Coast Metro President wrote to management to address the matter, “but they didn’t get any response to that.”
“They wrote to the Regional Level and it also came to the attention of the National President. There was no response. That’s the challenge of national service. The personnel keep complaining and no one listens to them. Even if you go to the headquarters, the receptionist there, the lady will tell you to write your name and ask you to go,” he added.
In July 2023, Management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) secured government approval for upward adjustment of monthly allowances for National Service Personnel from GHS559.04 to GHS715.57, with effect from January, 2023.
The approval, which was contained in a letter dated 18th July, 2023 and signed by the Deputy Minister for Finance, Hon. Abena Osei-Asare (MP), was as a result of series of engagements between National Service Scheme, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, and the Ministry of Finance.
For over 5 years, service personnel received GHC559, thus the news was welcomed. But after this news, NSS personnel continue to criticise the government for delay in payment of allowance.
Sources close to The Independent Ghana indicate that in some government institutions, 2023-2024 NSS personnel have not been paid for about 3 months.