Ken Ofori-Atta – Finance Minister
There
is closure to the strike action embarked upon by teachers in public schools as
government releases GH¢49,998,626.72 for the settlement of outstanding arrears which
the teachers have termed ‘Legacy Debt’.
On
Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance ordered the Controller and Accountant
General’s Department (CAGD) to release the stated amount to the Ghana Education
Service (GES) to the affected teachers.
A
correspondence dated December 11, 2019 signed by the Deputy Finance Minister,
Abena Osei Asare, said, “You (CAGD) are hereby authorised to release the sum of
GH¢49,998,626.72 to enable the
Director-General, Ghana Education Service, to pay outstanding transfer grants
and other allowances to qualified staff of GES.”
The
government gesture follows a strike action by teachers in the folds of the
Ghana National Association of Graduate Teachers, Ghana National Association of
Teachers and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers as a means of piling pressure
to have their arrears settled.
The
three teacher unions had insisted they would return to the classroom until
their demands were met in spite of a directive from the National Labour Commission
to do so immediately.
The
monies being demanded by the teacher unions were incurred from John Mahama and
his NDC days, a GES statement had explained earlier.
According
to the GES in its reaction, the strike action was illegal and a betrayal,
especially against the backdrop of a series of meetings both parties have held.
The
Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa had said the GES identified
a number of anomalies in the details of the arrears which made it difficult for
the service to meet the demands of the teachers, one of them being female
teachers appearing as watchmen.
The
GES was surprised when after a December 2, 2019 engagement with the teacher
unions, characterized by a unanimous agreement that the inconsistencies be corrected before the Yuletide, the strike action was
embarked upon.
“At
the meeting, management of the GES and the unions agreed that the data should
be vetted and only those eligible for payment should be paid the right
amounts,” the GES Director-General pointed out.
Prof.
Opoku-Amankwa said initially the number of GES staff on the legacy arrears from
2012 to 2016 was 120,232 and out of that, 87,556, representing 95 per cent, had
their salary arrears paid in full after a critical look to establish who really
deserved to be paid arrears.
