Former Finance Minister Seth Terkper has spoken out to clarify misconceptions surrounding a three-month pay policy for teachers during his tenure.
Terkper addressed allegations of imposing the policy, explaining that it was aimed at addressing administrative challenges in salary payments, particularly for newly posted teachers and nurses.
He emphasized that the policy was not intended to withhold payments from newly employed teachers, but rather to provide salary advances to them while they were awaiting full documentation.
“One of the measures we took, which was seriously distorted by current Nana Addo-Bawumia administration was that, the teachers and nurses which have been posted already, we know them, the list is there, the only thing is that they have been working but have not received pay because we have not gotten their credentials. So let us pay them salary advance of 3 months and this was distorted by the then opposition NPP”
Mr. Terkper revealed that the policy was distorted by the then-opposition NPP, leading to misinterpretation and political backlash. He stressed that the initiative was part of ongoing efforts to streamline payroll processes and combat fraudulent practices in recruitment.
““For payment of salaries, the final stop is the Controller and Accountant General and everybody looks to the Controller and minister of finance. Then if I didn’t have your appointment letter, am I going to pay? If I don’t have your posting, how amI going to pay? Because the Auditor general will come and the Controller would have no basis for making those payments”
“It was only applied to new postings not the old postings as speculated by the NPP at the time” he explained to Dr. Randy Abbey, host of news and current affairs show, Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV.
Additionally, Terkper highlighted the decision to transition teacher trainees and nurses into tertiary institutions to qualify for student loans, citing equity and educational infrastructure expansion as key motivations behind the move.
He however expressed disappointment in the NPP for taking advantage of the situation to create an impression that the NDC government at the time was insensitive to the teacher and nursing trainees.
“It was an issue we were resolving with the HRMI system because we were dealing with paper with people taking advantage over the situation to extort newly recruits. So what we said was that, let’s pay the batch of teachers, nurses and doctors, salary advance because at the time there were some liquidity so that when their authorisation comes, then we will offset it and take some money and pay them the net and it was already sorted”
“That we had decided to pay 3 months and forget about the arrears, we explained all these in a press conference which is still there on the website but all these were distorted for political gain.
and this is not new, it is continuing and become worse,” he explained on Thursday March 29, 2024.
By: Bright Yao Dzakah | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
