Felix Gyamfi, the Acting Director of the Ghana National Service Authority, has promised National Service members nationwide that, in accordance with President John Mahama’s direction, all unpaid allowances will be paid in full as of tomorrow.
On Wednesday, February 12, Gyamfi spoke on Joy FM’s PM Express and commended the President for moving quickly to clear the backlog. He emphasized that Mahama has always been worried about service personnel payment delays, even before taking office.
“We should be grateful to President John Mahama. You’ve realized that even before he became president, he had his press worry about the delay in payment of service personnel, especially so when the service allowance is a meagre ¢715, considering that we have serious inflation issues around us. So he sat down, and once we presented the figures to him, he ordered for a complete payment of all arrears,” he stated.
Mr. Gyamfi affirmed that the August through December payments that were postponed will be paid out, providing thousands of service members with much-needed respite.
“From tomorrow, service personnel will start receiving all arrears due them, from, I think, all the way from August, September, October, November, December,” he assured.
He attributed the recurring payment delays in recent years to corruption and incompetence within the system, suggesting that inefficiencies had deprived service personnel of their rightful allowances.
“Why has it become so? I think in the last eight years, it all became part of humongous corruption, the incompetence that we had to deal with because you didn’t understand why a service person’s meagre allowance due them will not be paid on time,” he lamented.
In response to a question concerning the potential for raising the present stipend, Gyamfi alluded to President Mahama’s dedication to enhancing working conditions for servicemen.
“I think President Mahama understands the circumstances that we are in and has reduced the corruption, the thievery, and the scheme by that much. And I’m sure already he’s thinking about, okay, can we claw back some of the money we saved? So it’s in the pipe a little bit. I’m sure he’s thinking about it,” he revealed.
National Service members have been relieved by the promise of prompt payments, as many of them have suffered months of financial hardship as a result of the delayed allowances. In light of the government’s renewed emphasis on efficiency and anti-corruption initiatives, Gyamfi thinks that future service workers should anticipate a more dependable payment system.
Source: myjoyonline.com