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The $504,000 worth of gold watches meant as end-of-service awards for 72 retiring staff of the Bank of Ghana who have worked for 30 years and beyond is "fair" and "not an issue at all", labour expert Austin Gamey has said.

According to him, critics are fighting the award out of ignorance. "… We don't need to raise eyebrows, and those who are raising it, it's perhaps because of lack of knowledge," adding: "Bank of Ghana workers are in a special class – not distinguishing them in a way that ridicules other people, no, far from that – but the reality is that we are talking about a group of people who are assigned specific roles to play and they (BoG) need to retain certain loyalty with them.

"They are not being paid a certain special pay or professional allowance of a certain class that will warrant [criticism]. When you are talking about this kind of long service [vis-a-vis] these kinds of things, the gold watch is an end sign that is being given to them to retain the loyalty of the people to remain there instead of switching camp to another company that will require the services of such a person who would contribute to the economic and finance management system within the banking system in the Bank of Ghana, which we need, so, it cannot be across the board," Mr Gamey told Prince Minkah on Class91.3FM's Executive Breakfast Show on Thursday, 6 October.

The 72 watches (25 18-kt for ladies and 48 pieces for men) are being procured from Messrs A Swiss Watch Company. The central bank said in its procurement letter that: "BoG intends to use part of its 2016 budgetary allocation to fund the procurement of 25 units of 18 carat ladies’ gold watches and 48 units of gents' gold watches." The Tissot gold watches are to serve "as an award to deserving members of staff who have served with the Bank for 30 years or more and are due to retire compulsorily from the service of the Bank in the years 2016 and 2017".

Below is the BoG’s statement on the matter:

RE: BoG GOVERNOR BLOWS US$504,000 ON GOLD WATCHES

Reports casting slur on the implementation of the end-of-service benefits of some deserving members of staff of the Bank have come with grave concerns.

The Bank of Ghana wishes to state, among others, that:

1. End of service benefits, as part of the conditions of service for staff, is a longstanding tradition of the Bank, an obligation the Bank has always fulfilled to boost staff morale and commitment to the goals and ideals of the institution. The award scheme has been the convention of the Bank since the 1970s.

2. In the year 2012, the Bank decided to procure the gold watches once every two years (i.e. 2012/13 etc.) in order to control cost and make savings on foreign exchange.

3. Deserving members of staff should have served a minimum of 30 years and are due for statutory retirement from the Bank.

4. The procurement process for the period 2016/2017 commenced in January 2016, before the appointment of the current Governor.

5. No procurement rules were breached in presenting sole sourcing justification to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) for approval.

6. PPA is an independent public institution whose work cannot be influenced by the Bank or any other institution.

7. At all times, the Bank abides by good governance principles that ensure a robust and effective internal control systems and processes.