Civil servants want action on allowance policy

Sunyani March 10, GNA - The Brong Ahafo Regional branch of Civil Servants Association has called on the government not to renege on its promise to monetize all cash, non-cash allowances and benefits such as fuel and housing utilities.

In a statement issued on Friday in Sunyani the branch association said it fully supported its national executives that the new policy should cascade from levels 22 to one on the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS).

The statement, jointly signed by Mr. George Yelkuri Dorsaah, Regional Chairman and Mr. Asante Asubonteng, Regional Secretary, was copied to the Ministry of Public Sector Reform and the Executive Secretary of Civil Servants Association.

The branch association noted that, "the civil servant has been a partner with the government in the quest for better remunerations and conditions of service for civil servants for years now". "We want to assure the government that we are in full support of the monetization policy and we expect the government to enter into negotiations again with our association on the policy as soon as possible", the statement added.

Mr. Dorsaah later expressed the association's dissatisfaction with the government's decision that the policy would cover only chief directors and directors instead of all civil servants. "Government promised the association that the new policy would take effect from January 1, this year as contained in the budget statement for the current year", he said.

The Chairman expressed regret that all indications showed that the government was "dragging its feet" in the implementation of the policy, adding the association would advise itself if the government failed to enter into negotiations with it in the implementation of the policy. 10 March 06