The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has expressed deep concern over the government’s alleged failure to pay mandatory contributions for over 700,000 workers.
During a press conference on Thursday, April 18, the president of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu accused the government of financial misconduct. He brought attention to the government’s failure to pay Tier 2 pension scheme contributions and other third-party deductions since July 2023.
“Unfortunately, though these monies are taken and deducted by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department on behalf of the Ghanaian worker, the monies have not been transferred into the various institutions which are the destinations for these monies. And to give a clear example of the situation, the last time the government paid any money into the tier-two pension scheme was in June 2023,” he said.
Carbonu emphasized that these contributions are being deducted from workers’ salaries but not reaching the designated institutions. This raises serious doubts, according to NAGRAT, about the future financial security of these workers, particularly upon retirement.
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“Workers of this country have continuously provided invaluable service to this nation. But unfortunately, the government we serve has decided to take from the Ghanaian workers and the various unions what even belongs to them. Every month workers pay dues to their unions and these dues are deducted from the salary of the workers. Also, workers are supposed to be deducted money from their salaries into their tier two -pension scheme so as to safeguard their future,” he added.
NAGRAT has therefore issued a one-week ultimatum to the government, demanding the immediate transfer of all outstanding deductions to the appropriate institutions.
“The way the thing is going, it is beginning to generate a large amount of disquiet at the labour front. The labour organizations like NAGRAT can no longer stay quiet to allow this financial malfeasance to continue. We want to state that by the close of next week Friday, all monies deducted from our members must be transferred immediately into the accounts of the institutions they are designated to be transferred to, otherwise, we don’t have any option than to embark on a series of activities to ensure that the right thing is done, ” Carbonu said.
Mr. Carbonu emphasized that if the government fails to meet the ultimatum, NAGRAT will be compelled to take additional steps to address what they see as financial misconduct by the government.