The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department’s (CAGD) directive ordering public sector workers to acquire a national identification card by December 1, 2021, or forfeit their salaries has been put on hold.
Instead, the Controller has been tasked to port the names of public sector workers in their existing database onto the National Identification Authority (NIA) platform.
They will afterwards be expected to inform the various institutions of any unregistered staff that may exist.
There had been agitations by a section of government workers and unions since the Department issued the directive on Tuesday, October 12, 2021, with some asking the outfit to reconsider the directive and withdraw it completely or have the deadline extended.
But Cephas Narh Dosso, the Head of Public Relations at CADG, reaffirmed the Department’s directive, saying it was the best way to address challenges in the government’s payroll system.
He explained that Section 8(4) of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), mandated the CAGD to, among other functions, receive, disburse and provide secured custody for public funds.
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However, the latest decision was arrived at following a meeting by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Ministry of Finance, the CAGD, and the leadership of organised labour representing public sector workers on CAGD payroll Tuesday morning.