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09.09.2014 Opinion

National Service Allowance Must Be Paid Now!!!

By Bright Sarpong
National Service Allowance Must Be Paid Now!!!
09.09.2014 LISTEN

It is the second week of September, 2014 and still, national service allowance for August 2013/2014 national service year had not been paid. Not only this, payment for July, 2014 had been halted. This means that service persons who could not take their allowance on time had been denied temporarily of allowances which are evidently meant for them.

If readers may recall, as done almost every year, last year was no exception. Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, acting executive director of the national service scheme on the 5th of September, 2013 in a news conference in Accra announced the commencement and deployment of service persons for 2013/2014 service year. A total of 49,953 service persons were deployed, 36,426 were positioned in the educational sector, 3,100 service persons were distributed to serve in the health service and 10, 427 went to the mining sector.

When service began in August, 2013 service persons were paid a monthly allowance of GHC 243.48. The government together with the national service board thought it wise that per the current economic status, service allowance should be increased. It therefore came as no surprise when service allowance eventually increased from GHC 243.48 to GHC350 in the month of February and payment took a retrospective effect from the month of January 2014.

Service persons were in luxury, taking their monthly assessment forms to the various coordinators for the release of their cheques and to the banks to take their allowances. Not long ago, the government deployed the BNI taskforce to check and take the detail of all service persons. As to the reasons for this spontaneous and sudden check, it is a known secret between the government, national service board and the various coordinators. Since that time, payment of service allowance took a nose dive. It became more complex since payment was done with service coordinators and the BNI.

In as much as I deem the BNI exercise to be very practical and a step in its right direction, I do not see why such an exercise should lead to a delay of service allowance. If only it is the reason and if it isn't, what else can explain the delay of the payment of allowances.

In short, the 49,953 service persons deployed to serve mother Ghana in 2013/2014 service year, are demanding their July and August allowance coupled with the TNT now!! For Christ sake, we live in a country where prices of goods and services rise almost every day. The delay of the allowances means that there will be an appreciable depreciation of the money service persons will receive. After all, how much is paid as allowances, GHC350 which is less than 100 dollars.

Remember, service persons are posted to serve in the remotest of villages where sometimes getting a car to go and take your allowance is even cumbersome. If people who have schooled could have the desire to serve and have the volition to be present in such areas, the country's “superiors” should not treat service persons in such a demeaning way. In reality, it's really unfair, truly unfair, plainly unfair, and distinctly not fair, service persons should not vent their spleen before government reacts positively.

Ekow Vincent and your other executives please let your voices be heard. Service persons cannot just be taken for a ride. WE NEED OUR ALLOWANCES AND TNT NOW!!!!!! Government should at least recognize the little effort we had sacrificed for this country and pay us what we ought to have. WE NEED OUR ALLOWANCES AND TNT NOW!!!

Mr President, please some of the national service persons you posted to districts and communities which they had never visited before, are stacked over there and cannot come back home to see their families. WE NEED OUR ALLOWANCES AND TNT NOW!!!

BRIGHT SARPONG
0241328904

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