The woes of the Electoral Commission (EC) seem far from over as over 120,000 personnel contracted by the Commission to assist in the 2012 general elections are crying foul over unpaid fees.
The personnel have expressed anger and disappointment over the delay in payment of their wages and have hinted at a possible demonstration, should the EC continue to deny them their due.
According to the terms of the contract, they were to be paid a month or a maximum of five weeks after the elections but till date, no positive response, according to them, has been heard from the returning officers who contracted them for the Electoral Commission.
�The Electoral Commission promised to pay us immediately after supervising the said presidential and parliamentary election in question. However, six months down the line, we have not been paid,� Johnson Kudiabor, a polling officer during the just-ended elections told The Independent.
The Independent learnt that the total electoral related budget presented to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning was GH� 262,256,525. The amount, according to our source, was paid to the Electoral Commission from the Consolidated Fund to enable it to conduct and supervise the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections.
One of the aggrieved workers, who spoke to this paper under condition of anonymity, explained that they are stuck since they cannot approach the EC directly with their complaints since they were contracted by returning officers of the EC and not the EC.
The aggrieved stressed that though they had contacted their respective returning officers countless times regarding their unpaid fees, but their efforts were unfruitful. The returning officers keep postponing the time for payment. Another aggrieved worker warned of a possible demonstration since the EC had so far not shown any commitment to honour their part of the contract.
Per the arrangement, biometric registration officials were to be paid 80 cedis while polling officers were to be paid 100 cedis but since the completion of the 2012 election, no payments had been made to them.
However, the Public Relations officer (PRO) of the Electoral Commission, Sylvia Annor, has hinted that the unpaid wages will be paid soon.
When The Independent contacted her, the EC PRO explained that funds to settle election personnel had been received and were being processed for payments. She assured the aggrieved that their monies would be paid to them.
Though no specific time frame was given, the EC PRO was emphatic that the �personnel would be paid anytime soon.�
<<Print>>