Acting Director of the Ghana National Service Authority has assured service personnel that all outstanding allowances from August to December will be paid starting Thursday, February 13.

Felix Gyamfi attributed the swift intervention to President John Mahama’s commitment to addressing their financial struggles.

Speaking on Joy FM’s PM Express on Wednesday, February 12, he acknowledged the long-standing issue of delayed payments and assured service personnel that the government has prioritised their welfare.

“We should be grateful to President John Mahama. Even before he became president, he had his press worry 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 said.

He explained that once the figures were presented to the President, he immediately ordered the complete payment of all arrears.

“So from tomorrow [February 13], service personnel will start receiving all arrears due them from August, September, October, November, and December,” he confirmed.

Mr Gyamfi blamed the persistent delays in payments on years of corruption and mismanagement, which he believes have crippled the financial stability of the scheme.

“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.

Regarding the possibility of an increment in the service allowance, Gyamfi revealed that the President is already considering the move.

“I think President Mahama understands the circumstances that we are in, and having reduced the corruption, the thievery, and the scheme by that much, I’m sure already he’s thinking about, ‘Okay, can we claw back some of the money that we have saved?’ So it’s in the pipeline a little bit,” he disclosed.

Service personnel have long called for an increment in their allowances, citing rising inflation and increasing cost of living, and Felix Gyamfi’s comments suggest that the government is actively working towards a solution.

While no timeline has been set, his remarks indicate that discussions are ongoing to adjust the ¢715 stipend to a more sustainable figure.