BIOMETRIC REGISTRATION OF ACTIVE GOVT WORKERS-CHAOS IN KASSENA-NANKANA MUNICIPALITY.

The biometric registration of active and sub-vented employees in the Upper East Region is in a total mess. The exercise which started on Friday day 3rd August 2012 is ending today 7th August 2012 with hundreds of workers reported not to have been captured.

The exercise has been flawed with so many challenges and workers from the villages had to virtually be sleeping at the three registration centres i.e the Municipal Assembly, GES offices and the District Health Directorate.

Essential service delivery like health care have been terribly affected and there were reports of pregnant women delivery on their own in health facilities because all the health workers have deserted the sub-districts and converge at the District Health Administration.

The situation at the Municipal Hospital i.e War Memorial Hospital was chaotic as nurses and doctors threatened to abandon patients and go for the registration since the team failed to come to the hospital to register them.

The exercise ends today according to schedule but workers at the Municipal hospital have threatened to lay down their tools if they are not given firm assurance as to when they would be registered.

The situation at the GES offices is nothing more than a refugee camp because basic school teachers have been queuing since Friday to register. A teacher who collapse at the venue was rush to the Municipal hospital for treatment because for two days he has been sleeping at the GES offices without eating haven’t come from Naaga a distance of 55 kilometres to Navrongo.

What made matters worse this afternoon was that the team was indecisive as to when they will return to Municipality to complete the exercise. Workers also blame the team partly because they usually come to start the exercise very late sometimes around 9:30am and by 3:30pm they pack back to Bolga where the team stays.

With the decision of the CAGD to use the registration for the payment of August salaries it is envisage that many workers will not be paid their August salaries if the plan remains unchanged. Should workers suffer this predicament because the 3M-Cogent was unable to finish the biometric registration on time due to their poor planning and forecasting?

Teachers of second cycle institutions and the St. John Boscos Training College have all not been registered at the end of the exercise today.

Johnson Abugah Concern Teacher Navrongo