Labour unions opposed the government against its plans to implement the new e-payment system, theafricareport.com reports. Prevoiusly, the finance ministry had attempted to clean up the country`s public sector payroll – through the controller and accountant general – by issuing a directive in April 2016 to all public employees to obtain e-zwich cards by 31th of May 2016 or have their salaries suspended or names deleted from the payment register.
The e-zwich initiative had started in 2014 but has never worked as expected. However, the Forum for Public Sector Registered Pension Schemes (FPSRPS), a group comprising leaders of 12 labour unions and associations, demanded the finance minister to suspend the measure and not to delete any worker`s name from the payroll. The ministries of finance and employment and labour relations agreed on the demands of FPSRPS.
Ghana`s Bureau of National Investigations in 2014 revealed that the government paid USD 2.5 million (GHS 7.9 million) to over 22,000 ghost workers in one year compelling officials to introduce electronic payment system in 2015 at the national service secretariat. The introduction of the new payment scheme would have helped the state to save more than USD 5.26 million (GHS 20 million).
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