The Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, has attributed the delay in the payment of National Service allowances to the failure of personnel to submit their forms on time.

Speaking to personnel before the start of their National Service, he clarified that the Authority is not deliberately holding up payments.

Mr Assibey Antwi acknowledged that while the multistep approval process, which involves clearance from the district level before reaching the national headquarters, plays a role in the delay, the primary cause is the late submission of forms by the service personnel themselves.

He explained that the delays make it difficult for the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS), under the Bank of Ghana, to process and release the outstanding payments.

The NSA Executive Director urged personnel to ensure timely submission of their forms to avoid further payment delays and ensure smoother disbursement of allowances.

“We say that by 15th to 20th of every month, personnel are supposed to present their monthly forms, and by 20th, the District Manager should have uploaded. It then goes to the various regional offices. Then to the accountant, who also forwards to the Regional Directors."

“And the Regional Directors have been given a time frame to work on it. When it goes to the head office, it also goes through five offices: the usage office, the audit office, the accountant, and then to the Executive Director. So, you could see the bureaucracy of how these forms are uploaded and worked on.”

“So, the problem of delay, we can even say that it comes from most of them not succumbing to, as we have told them to bring their forms on time,” he stressed.