Regional seminar on pensions and salary procedures opens

Accra, May 23, GNA - Mr Joshua Alabi, Greater Accra Regional Minister, on Tuesday called on officials entrusted with salaries and pension procedures to show transparency in their work to avoid continuous delays in payment.

"Officials must show transparency in their work and design measures and methods to plug the loopholes which have over the years led to corruption at various levels."

Mr Alabi said this when he opened a two-day regional seminar on pensions and salary procedures for regional heads of departments, personnel officers, district co-ordinating directors, and finance officers of the Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies.

It was organised by the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAG) under the theme, " Improving and sustaining effective administration of prompt monthly payment and decentralised processing and payment of pensions and gratuities".

It aimed at injecting efficiency into the operations of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, emphasising the importance of proper input procedures for both salary and pension in eliminating or minimising delays in the payment of benefits.

It was also to educate the public servants on the need to initiate applications for gratuity and pension earlier before their day of retirement, among others. Mr Alabi said although previous workshops have resolved most of the major issues with the administration of pension (Cap 30), there are however some pertinent problems left unsolved.

He said it is important that the procedure for payment of benefits should be strictly adhered to in order to move frustrations and dehumanising practices in processing and payment of retirement benefits.

"Furthermore, the process should be shortened to facilitate prompt payment of benefits of the final day of retirement." He stressed the need for personnel and accounting staff to be appraised fully with the guidelines and timing connected with the respective stages of procedures for compliance.

The Minister urged the organisers to continue with similar seminars and workshops for middle level administrators and accounts officers to ensure effective financial administration.

Mr Samuel Addokwei-Addo, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, appealed to the CAG to consider a fortnight payment of monthly salaries or allowances to avoid undue hardships on workers. He noted that the public sector is losing brilliant and hardworking personnel to the private sector as a result of undue delays in payment of salaries and called on the CAG to take a critical look at the situation.

Dr. Robert Duodu, Head of Civil Service, said he was disappointed at the low attendance by participants and called for a change in attitude of civil servants. "The attitude of civil servants towards time and attendance is a fact but this culture of lateness must be changed to facilitate reforms in the service". He advised officers to put in their own initiatives to address problems such as piling of input forms and other documents.

Dr Duodu reminded them that delaying processed documents unduly is illegal and those involved could be prosecuted and dismissed. He noted that the act being illegal, also compounds the plights of the recipients adding, "put yourselves in their shoes and see how it feels like".

Mr John Prempeh, Deputy Controller and Accountant General, said the dynamic nature of the public service requires the need to develop human resources to meet the new challenges such as new skills, technology, new Laws and procedures. He noted that the basis of complaints of salaries and pensions arise out of non-compliance of the existing regulations in relation to completion of input forms, submitting forms on time and lack of knowledge of contact officials.

Topics to be treated include "Checking and certification of monthly payment vouchers, training on salary and salary arrears computation, completion of salary input forms and Salary conversion of Ghana Universal Salary Structure.