National Service personnel across the country can expect to receive outstanding allowances starting February 13, 2025, following a directive from President John Dramani Mahama.
This move aims to address the backlog of payments that has left many service members financially strained for months.
Speaking on Joy FM’s PM Express on Wednesday, February 12, the Acting Director of the Ghana National Service Authority, Felix Gyamfi, commended President Mahama for his swift action, emphasizing the President’s longstanding concern over delays in service allowance payments.
“We should be grateful to President John Mahama. You’ve realised that even before he became president, he had his worries about the delay in payment of service personnel, especially so when the service allowance is a meagre ¢715, considering that we have serious inflation issues around us,” Gyamfi stated.
Gyamfi confirmed that allowances from August to December would be cleared, providing relief to thousands of National Service personnel who have endured prolonged financial difficulties due to the delays.
“From tomorrow, service personnel will start receiving all arrears due them, from, I think, all the way from August, September, October, November, December,” he assured.
SEE ALSO: Government Releases Funds for the Payment of NSS Arrears
The NSS Acting Director attributed the persistent delays in payments over the past eight years to corruption and mismanagement, describing the situation as deep-rooted inefficiencies that deprived service personnel of their rightful allowances.
“Why has it become so? I think in the last eight years, it all became part of humongous corruption, the incompetence that we had to deal with because you didn’t understand why a service person’s meagre allowance due them will not be paid on time,” he lamented.
Addressing concerns over the low allowance of ¢715, Gyamfi hinted that President Mahama is considering an upward adjustment, following the elimination of corrupt practices that had previously drained the scheme’s resources.
“I think President Mahama understands the circumstances that we are in and has reduced the corruption, the thievery, and the scheme by that much. And I’m sure already he’s thinking about, okay, can we claw back some of the money we saved? So it’s in the pipe a little bit. I’m sure he’s thinking about it,” he revealed.
SEE ALSO: Government Discovers 81,885 Suspected Ghost Names on NSS Payroll
The National Service Personnel (NSPs) have faced recurring delays in receiving their monthly allowance of GHS 715.00.
As of February 12, the 2024/2025 batch was still awaiting payments for November, December, and January 2025 with only the October allowance having been disbursed in December prior to the 2024 general election.
The National Service Scheme (NSS) policy also stipulates that allowances should be paid in the month following the month of service.
However, the National Service Authority (NSA) typically attributes delays to procedural issues or batch payments, frustrating NSPs who sometimes rely on borrowed money due to these disruptions.
In the past, these delays have led to protests, such as the nationwide strike initiated by the Concerned National Service Scheme Personnel Association of Ghana (CONSPAG) on July 3, 2024, over unpaid allowances.
SEE ALSO: National Service Start Date for 2024 Batch of Trained Teachers
Although NSPs have historically protested non-payment, there has been a decline in vocal protests recently, despite ongoing delays.
With the current assurance under the new regime, it is hoped that three months’ worth of allowance will be disbursed to personnel soon.