PAC cautions Assemblies against paying below minimum wage

Tamale: Any District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assembly found culpable of paying its casual workers below the nationally mandated minimum wage will be prosecuted, Dr James Klutse Avedzi, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has cautioned.Dr Avedzi condemned the practice whilst addressing in the media during the Northern Regional zonal public hearings on the Auditor-General's report for the 2022 financial year, in Tamale.Dr Avedzi said some Assemblies paid casual workers as low as GH?100 to GH? 150 per month, an amount below the legal minimum wage of approximately GH?18.15 per day.He described such a salary as an insult emphasising that it was imperative for all Assemblies to comply with the minimum wage.He pointed out that the minimum wage, when multiplied by the average number of working days in a month, should amount to not less than GH? 400.He recommended that any Assembly found to be paying less than this amount should face legal consequences including potential pr osecution of responsible officials.Dr Avedzi said the issue, alongside other recurring challenges such as unearned salaries, unaccounted revenue, and the lapses in the use of the District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF), continued to be a challenge in various Assemblies across the country.He, however, acknowledged that there was progress in procurement processes, which used to be a common infraction, stating that some cases had been referred to the Attorney-General for prosecution.At the PAC hearing, District Assemblies attributed overspending to effects of security and natural disasters.Dr Avedzi, in view of this, called for the national security budget to take on those costs instead of the DACF, which was intended for development purposes.He said this would enable Assemblies to utilise the DACF for its intended purpose.Source: Ghana News Agency