The Executive Director of the National Secretariat Service (NSS), Osei Assibey Antwi, has been chastised for his failure to ensure that the 2023/24 NSS personnel receive their allowances as scheduled.
In a post on the X platform, a citizen, Joel Kofi, expressed concern that NSS personnel working with government institutions have not been paid their allowances since they started their mandatory service in November 2023.
He questioned how Osei Assibey Antwi could sleep comfortably at night while many Ghanaian graduates suffer from hunger in their efforts to serve their nation patriotically.
“This is Mr. Osei Assibey, the National service boss. Papa, do you sleep comfortably at night, knowing fully well that you are starving young people? From November 2023 to March 2024, not even a penny. How wicked can a man be?” he quizzed.
On the issue of delayed allowance payment, the National Service Secretariat in January of this year called for calm as agitation among 2023/2024 service personnel grows following the Secretariat’s inability to pay their monthly allowances.
Speaking to Citi News, the Acting Head of Corporate Affairs for the National Service Scheme, Ambrose Entsiwah Junior, indicated that the Secretariat is waiting on Parliament for the approval of their budget.
He said, “It depends on the money that we receive at any point in time. Let’s not forget that we have submitted our budget to parliament like every other institution for appropriation to be done. And so once those things have been completed and funds have been released into our account, which includes salaries and payment of allowances and all that, we will pay the service personnel.”
Two months later, it appears Parliament is yet to approve the budget for the NSS for payment to be made.