Ban Contracts for Retirees ... It's a Drain On National Coffers - Domelevo

By Benedicta Gyimaah Folley

Government has been asked to stop the re-engagement of retirees on contract to facilitate the fresh employment of graduates, the Auditor General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo has said.

The Auditor General observed with displeasure that most government officials had been given contracts which he described as tantamount to blocking promotions of otherwise deserving officers and preventing the employment of fresh graduates coming out of school.

Describing the situation as not conducive for good governance, he explained that the situation was putting financial burden on the government as beneficiaries receive double income as a pensioner and a salaried worker.

He, therefore, called on governments to ensure that people were not hired on contract and that the re-engagement of retired officers be discouraged.

Mr Domelevo made the call at the launch of the 2018 University of Professional Studies (UPSA) Faculty of Accounting and Finance (FAF) Professional Week Celebration, on Monday.

The week long activity is on the theme "Raising Professionals with Integrity for National Development" and expected to bridge the gap between industry and academia after the commemoration.

Mr Domelevo explained that, a person who is employed on contract, did not fall within the definition of a civil servant, and therefore his authority to command and maintain discipline "becomes questionable".

While discouraging the practice of re-engagagement of public servants onto the government pay roll, he tasked the university to provide the country with people of integrity and not just intellectuals.

Mr Collins Agyemang Sarpong, President of the Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply (GIPS) on his part said, Ghana needed people with integrity to build a solid future for the nation.

He said the country needed graduates with high moral and ethical standards to lead the process of reconstruction that was required to direct the course of the development of the country.

"We need people who are guided by a sense of what is moral and what is immoral, people who will refuse to compromise their principles and choose to build their integrity account," he said.

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