Controller pays GH¢485m as COLA to public sector workers

The Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) has brought to the general notice of the public that an amount of GH¢485 million has been paid as cost-of-living allowance (COLA) to public sector workers for the months of July and August.

In July, 2022, the government reached a consensus with organized labour for the payment of COLA after the long period of strike.

A statement released from the office of the Controller and Accountant General confirmed the payment of the said amount.

GOVERNMENT PAYS COST OF LIVING (COLA) ALLOWANCE

1. Pursuant to the approval given by the Ministry of Finance on 1st August 2022, following the Agreement signed between Government and Organized Labour on 14th July 2022, the Controller and Accountant-General has paid the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) to workers in Public Service Institutions.

2. The COLA which represents fifteen percent (15%) of the 2022 basic salary was paid for the months of July and August.

3. The total amount paid for COLA for the two months is Four Hundred and Eighty-Five Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢485,000,000.00).
In July, 2022, the government and organised labour agreed on a 15 percent Cost of Living Allowance for members of organised labour.

The various worker unions, including the four teacher unions, the Ghana Medical Association, and the Public Sector Workers Union, among others, asked for the payment of 20 percent of their basic salaries as Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) due to the current economic crisis the country is faced with.

Read also: CETAG calls on government for action to address issues concerning their Welfare

For over two weeks, the government and organized unions dragged negotiations compelling CCT, GNAT, NAGRAT, and TEWU to embark on industrial action to insist on their demands.

But after a crunch meeting, both parties came to a consensus agreeing on a 15% COLA, which will take retrospective effect from July 1, 2022.

The Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, in reading out the terms of the agreement, stated “We agreed with the labour unions that the COLA will be paid at the rate of 15% of base pay, that the effective date for the payment of the COLA will be 1st July 2022.”

See also: EDUWATCH THREATENS TO SUE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION.

“We also agreed that all industrial actions underway and threats of same will be called off immediately and that labour will return to work,” he added.