Contract staff of the National Identification Authority (NIA), engaged for the nationwide Ghana Card registration for children under 15, are demanding unpaid wages for October and November 2024.

The affected workers, identified as “Team One Nationwide,” claim they have diligently carried out their duties but are yet to receive either full or partial payment for their services.

Despite multiple letters and consultations with NIA leadership, their efforts to address the issue have yielded no results, leaving them frustrated and calling for urgent action.

Speaking to Citi News, the spokesperson for the group, Matilda Tsri, expressed their disappointment, stating: “Despite our efforts to address this diplomatically, there has been no formal communication from the NIA on when our wages will be paid. Meanwhile, other teams involved in the same exercise have already been compensated.”

“The work was between NIA and the Health Insurance and the NIA said they would take care of team one and the Health insurance said they would take care of team two and team three but for us in team one, we will be sorted out by the health insurance.”

“We were expecting our salaries to drop in December but along the line somewhere in December, our colleagues in teams two and three received their salaries but we didn’t so we made calls to our head office and the management office on why we haven’t received our salaries but they replied that the NIA is responsible for that so we should have patience and we have been placing a call to then on the issue but till now the money hasn’t dropped.”

The workers also allege that the NIA directed them to the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) for payment. However, the NHIA has denied any responsibility, redirecting them back to the NIA, and leaving the contract staff in limbo.