Some workers of the National Identification Authority (NIA) who protested against what they said was the “messy” situation at the authority have been suspended, its Executive Secretary Dr William Ahadzie has confirmed. Some aggrieved staff who claimed they have not been paid for about 12 months protested at the precincts of the NIA and prevented the authority from transacting business on Wednesday. One of the suspended workers who spoke to Joy News on condition of anonymity said after a management meeting, “they called some few of us into a meeting and that is where they informed us that they are going to give us letters to suspend us; but I bet you it is not going to happen.” He said they got to that point because management and all the appropriate authorities refused to respond to their plight after numerous correspondence were addressed to them. “We have written to the Executive Secretary himself, he did not respond; we’ve also gone ahead to write to the board chairman officially to inform him of happenings, but all these things yielded no result.” The workers are therefore threatening to go to court. But NIA’s Executive Secretary Dr William Ahadzie, speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story Wednesday advised the aggrieved workers it would not be in their interest to resort to the courts. He explained that the authority “just applied” what is stated in its condition of service, adding that the affected workers should “submit to the disciplinary action that has been applied” to resolve the outstanding issues “properly”. “It was a joint management meeting that has made the decision, and we will follow that. We are not doing that to disadvantage anybody; we don’t want to inconvenient anybody but the rules must be applied, and we will apply the rules without fear or favour.” He further stated that the action taken by the workers to obstruct the business of the Authority contravenes Section 65 of the National Identity Registration Act, which considers obstruction as “a very serious offence” which attracts “serious sanctions”. On the unpaid salary, Mr Ahadzie contested claims that the workers have not been paid for about 12 months. Rather, he explained that the workers have since July this year been paid, and the workers are only demanding some unpaid arrears, which he said is the responsibility of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department. Meanwhile, a labour expert, Austin Gamey, though condemned any forceful lock-up of business premises, also submitted that the decision taken by management is neither the best. He advised the workers to go to the National Labour Commission instead of going to court. Play the attached audio to listen to the submissions.