By: Murtala Issah
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has directed the Karaga District Assembly to pay all outstanding allowances owed to casual workers of the assembly.
The committee emphasized that these workers, who play a crucial role in the operations of the Assembly, deserve to be compensated fairly and promptly.
Currently, casual workers in the Karaga District Assembly receive 100 Ghana cedis per month, which is significantly below the national minimum wage of 18.15 cedis, which translates into over 400 Ghana cedis a month.
In light of this, the committee has urged the assembly to ensure that casual workers are paid living wages that align with the National Minimum Wage.
This directive aims to improve the financial well-being of the workers, many of whom struggle to make ends meet due to inadequate remuneration.
The Public Accoun begun a two day sitting in Tamale on Monday to look into the audit reports of district assemblies, colleges of education, senior high schools and Technical Universities in the Upper West, Upper East, North East, Savannah and North East Regions.
The committee stressed that timely payment and fair wages are not only a matter of justice but also vital for fostering a motivated and productive workforce.
The Chairman of the committee, James Klutse Avedzi, highlighted the responsibility of the local government to prioritize the welfare of its workers.
The assembly has been given a one month ultimatum to address these concerns, and failure to comply could result in further scrutiny from the committee.
The District Coordinating Director of the Karaga District Assembly, Alhassan Abdulai, in an interview with GBC news after their engagement with PAC, revealed that, revenue generation has been a major challenge for the assembly hence the low wages and delay in payment of these allowances.
He assured the affected workers that the Assembly has put in adequate measures to generate enough revenue to pay adequately and promptly.
