Former MMDCEs To Picket At Jubilee House

The immediate past Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) under the President Akufo-Addo administration are threatening to picket at the Jubilee House, Kanda, Accra, as a sign of frustration over delay in payment of some salary arrears owed them by the state.

According to them, the delay in paying benefits due them, which include salary differentials accumulated over the period they served, leave allowances and 2021 gratuity which remains unpaid, is bringing untold hardships and unnecessary pressure on them, leading to the death of some of their colleagues.

Some of the former appointees who spoke to The Anchor, on condition of anonymity, wondered why the Akufo-Addo-led government was quick to pay former MMDCEs who served under the erstwhile John Mahama administration just barely five months after coming into power.

But in their case, under their own government it has been close to about two years now and the authorities are not willing to honour this obligation due them, just as was done for their colleagues who served under National Democratic Congress (NDC) era.

They argued that, the manner in which their issue is being handled without paying any attention to their predicaments, given the current economic challenges, is unfair.

According to them, their colleagues are dying because they cannot afford basic medical care, let alone to provide for their families, adding “We cannot honour certain social obligations such as donations at funerals and other social functions.”

The former MMDCEs, who said they are in talks with their colleagues to fix date for their picketing, wondered why government increased salaries over the periods, but theirs were not affected.

They recalled the difficult challenges the district assemblies went through during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they put in their maximum efforts to steer the affairs of the assemblies until the situation was brought under control.

They said, under their watch, they did everything possible to put the assemblies in a positive limelight, despite the enormous economic challenges confronting the country at the time.

For them, they are in dire need of these benefits to set up themselves into any business venture in order to contribute their quota to the socio-economic development of the country.

They are, therefore, calling on the government to consider their plights and give due consideration to their plea as citizens who served their country very well.

They told The Anchor, that it is their hope that the current Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Daniel Kweku Botwe, will take special interest in their issue and ensure the matter is resolved in earnest.

Source: Anchorghana.com