The chagrin of Teachers; unpaid salary arrears

Perhaps it is an over-flogged matter that does not interest the public or even the media anymore; well, except in instances when a strike is threatened.

The unpaid salary arrears of teachers is a matter that dates back to the days of Seth Tekper and was brought on by a decision to pay only three months of arrears and subject the rest to rigorous vetting.

It is a matter that has attracted some industrial action but is still yet to be resolved; at least in the case of scores of teachers.

The worst part is attempts to get the issue resolved have fallen on deaf ears. A couple of them who have spoken to me say they are becoming persona non grata at the Accountant General's office because the staff there were tired of their faces.

The question is whether the frowning faces at the AG's department should deter them from pursuing their hard earned wages; the answer is No and they continue to frequent the offices.

A couple of them who I have personally spoken to told me their claims have been vetted and re-vetted and approved; they have gone through registration exercises, turned for headcounts but are still yet to be paid their arrears.

Interesting enough, they have received some payments calculated using those arrears but are no the arrears. I am going to attempt to explain the situation and I hope it makes sense.

Apparently, teachers salaries are subjected to periodic increments; so let's assume their original salaries would have gone up by 15 cedis since they were engaged. What the AG has paid them is the accumulation of that GHC15 cedis incremental. So let's assume they worked for 24 months, all you have to do is to multiply the GHC15 by 24 and that is what they have been paid. The arrears have remained unpaid.

The affected teachers tell me they have tried to get some explanations as to why this was the case and have been told the arrears would be paid and the AG expect them to have faith and be patient; as it turns out, such processes are not governed by the laws of religion.

So the poor teachers would continue to find time out of their busy schedules to frequent the AG's to remind them that they are still owed wages of their labour. As for the frowns, they have gotten used to it.

The question is why this is the case; is it a cash flow problem?

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