Contrary to a claim by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that his government has paid all legacy arrears owed to teachers, the Association of Aggrieved Teachers insists otherwise.
According to a Citi News report sighted by GhanaWeb, the teachers say they note the president’s statement with pains as they are yet to receive their legacy arrears.
“We write with much pains in our heart to hear our president at the 6th Quadrennial (53rd) GNAT delegate conference held in Kumasi on 5th January 2022 say that his government has cleared all legacy arrears.
“We don’t want to say our president is a liar, but in all sincerity, we the affected teachers are yet to receive this promised legacy arrears,” the report quotes a statement by the group.
Explaining fruitless efforts to get their arrears paid by the government, the Association of Aggrieved Teachers has demanded answers and details over the supposed payment in response to the president’s claims.
“If our president purports to have paid this legacy arrears, then he should please answer these questions for the public; When did he pay? Which year batch did he pay to? How did he pay it?
“The legacy arrears fight continued in 2020 where the writing of letters, consultations and engagements were made with the various stakeholders, yet, nothing good came out of it.
“On the eve of 2020 elections (6th December), one Madam Mary Owusu called our PRO (Mr Kweku Tabiri Effah) to inform him that; the money has been paid into our accounts. We checked, and it was the salary arrears that he owed the 2016-year batch that he paid, and even with that, he couldn’t pay them all. So, which legacy arrears is our indefatigable president talking about? We even forwarded our grievances to CHRAJ, of which acknowledgement was made that they are working on our case, Parliament was petitioned as well.
According to the group, the government needs to stop offending their situation by spreading falsehoods about the payment and rather focus on fulfilling its financial obligation to teachers.
Over the years, teacher associations in the country have bemoaned the non-payment of arrears, including over two years’ salary and promotion arrears and allowances of some public school teachers.
The situation has led to instances of agitations and threats of a strike by the teacher unions, which include the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).
Source: ghanaweb