Teachers in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, are getting ready to hit the streets in protest against persistent deductions in their salary by the Controller and Accountant-General.
Teachers in the Garden City are simply unhappy about the sustained but unexplained deductions in their salary by the Controller and Accountant-General since March this year.
According to some teachers who spoke to Daily Guide, they have been receiving far less than what they are expected to earn, because of the mysterious deductions. Some of the �eye red� teachers disclosed that since the strange deductions began four months ago, their net salary which was pegged at GH�260 has reduced drastically to GH�160. They said attempts to verify the motivation behind the bizarre deductions from the Controller and Accountant-General have hit the rocks, as the government�s chief accountant is not forthcoming with the reasons.
One female teacher who pleaded anonymity told Daily Guide that since March this year, she has been receiving an 18-page pay-slip document which contains inexplicable deductions. Reports reaching this paper indicate that the ill-fated situation is not peculiar to teachers in the Ashanti region alone as those in other parts of the country are also suffering the same fate.Other professionals apart from teachers who also receive their salary from the Consolidated Fund, according to our information, have also been experiencing significant but incomprehensible deductions for some time now. Not satisfied with the development, the teachers have vowed to hit the streets to protest against the unlawful deductions if the Controller and Accountant-General does not correct the anomaly by the end of this month. �Whether our leaders would sanction this planned action or not, we would hit the streets because we can�t sit unconcerned whilst our meagre salary is illegally deducted,� one charged male teacher noted.
The teachers are of the view that the President Mills government has been unfair to them with this action because after single-handedly leading the campaign of the NDC to win power, they deserve better treatment. Bettering the welfare of teachers was one of the messages which featured prominently in the campaign promises of then Candidate Mills during the 2008 election period.
Many teachers have expressed fears that if this is what the trend would be like, then the much-touted better life for teachers by the President Mills administration would be a mirage.
<<Print>>