The call on the government to take liability for the shortage in the payment of lump sums to pensioners and the removal of 7,000 ‘ghost’ names from the government’s payroll are some of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Graphic reports that the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to take liability for the shortage in the payment of lump sums to pensioners who started retiring from this year under the new pensions law, the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766).
The Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr. Yaw Baah, made the call in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Ho yesterday on the sidelines of the Volta/Oti Regional Council Forum on Pensions.
He said it was the stance of the labour union that the government topped up the shortage on pensioners’ past credits and second tier contributions computed under the new law.
According to him, Act 766, which replaced PNDC Law 247 that created the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), established a three-tier pension regime, with the mandatory first tier managed by SSNIT and the second and third tiers by private fund managers.
The past credit is the contribution of workers to SSNIT whose retirement took place 10 years after the coming into force of Act 766.
The newspaper says that the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has deleted 7,000 ‘ghost’ names from the government’s payroll this year.
The acting Controller and Accountant General, Mr. Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, said the names were removed after a team of auditors and accountants from the CAGD and the Auditor-General’s Department had toured the country to enumerate workers on government payroll.
At the launch of the monthly training for staff of the department in Accra yesterday, he said those who did not avail themselves to validate their names and details on the payroll during the exercise were taken out.
“Today, it will be very difficult to bring ghost names onto the payroll; besides, the department does not capture names onto the payroll as this is done at the ministries, departments and agencies’ level through the Public Services Commission before we get new entrants onto our system,” he said.
Dubbed the “Treasury Hour”, the event was meant to build the professional competence of the staff from across the country on the treasury functions to improve the delivery of financial management services to stakeholders.
The Graphic also reports that former President John Dramani Mahama has said the opposition National Democratic Congress was not comfortable with the processes leading to Election 2020.
“As things are going, we are not comfortable with the process leading to the election and we call on international community to take an interest in what is happening in Ghana.
“We want electoral observers to come long in advance, international election observers must be deployed long in advance to supervise the electoral process going into the election,” he said.
Mr. Mahama said this in the Bono Region on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 when he announced that he was cutting short his campaign tour of the area and to return to Accra to pay attention to reports of voter register challenges in the ongoing voter register exhibition.
The former President, who is seeking re-election explained that he was cutting short his campaign tour to enable him and the leaders of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to travel back to Accra “because of the increasing reports of challenges with the voter register and the exhibition process.”
The Times reports that the Director-General of Operations of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kweku Pepra-Boadu has admonished police personnel to desist from indulging in active partisan politics as the December 7, 2020 general elections draw closer.
DCOP Pepra-Boadu stated that the Ghana Police Service is apolitical and urged personnel not to involve themselves in politics.
The Director-General gave the advice on behalf of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong-Boanuh, during a route march by personnel of the Service to keep fit and in readiness to lead in the provision of adequate security before, during and after the December 7, general elections.
The route march started from the National Police Headquarters through Ako Adjei Interchange, 37 Military Hospital, Obansanjo Highway to Kawukudi Roundabout, Pig Farm, La, Teshie, Danquah Circle and back to the Police Headquarters.
They displayed some of their resources such as ambulance, trained dogs, and armoured vehicles, among others.
GIK/APA