Response to allegations of pay disparities and parallel recruitment at the Ghana Standards Authority
The attention of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has been drawn to an online publication circulating on social media alleging pay disparities and irregular recruitment at the Authority. Management categorically rejects the mischaracterisation of the facts contained in the report and sets out the correct position below.
The officers referred to in the report as the “first cohort” were originally engaged under the defunct Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) programme. Following the termination of the NABCO programme, they were retained by the Authority under the previous administration on a temporary engagement basis, renewable annually, at a fixed monthly salary, payable from the Authority’s Goods and Services budget. This was the arrangement in place at the time the current Director-General assumed office. These officers were never placed on the Government of Ghana payroll, were never gazetted, and did not undergo parliamentary approval as claimed in the report.
Upon assumption of office, the current Director-General sought and obtained clearance from the Ministry of Finance to recruit 500 Trading Standards Inspectors in 2025 with a newly designed mandate. This recruitment was approved on the Single Spine Salary Structure, the government-sanctioned public sector pay framework. It should be noted that this 2025 cohort is likewise not on the central government payroll; their remuneration is paid from the Authority’s Internally Generated Funds (IGF), under a pay structure specifically sanctioned by the Ministry of Finance. Both cohorts therefore sit outside the central payroll, the distinction lies in the applicable pay structure sanctioned for each, not in political favouritism as insinuated.
The assertion that Parliament approved a list of names for the earlier (NABCO-origin) cohort, or that the recruitment or retention of temporary staff constitutes parliamentary business, is false. The engagement and renewal of temporary staff is an internal administrative and human resource matter and does not require, and has never required, parliamentary approval.
Contrary to suggestions of neglect, scientific staff from the earlier cohorts whose skills are critical to the Authority’s laboratory operations have since been reassigned with improved conditions of service, reflecting Management’s recognition of their expertise and contribution.
Management wishes to reassure the public and all staff of the Authority that recruitment, engagement, and remuneration decisions at GSA are guided strictly by Ministry of Finance clearance, applicable government pay policy, and the Authority’s operational needs, not by the political administration under which any officer was originally engaged. Management remains open to engaging affected staff through the Authority’s established labour relations channels on any outstanding contractual matters and encourages that such channels be used in the first instance rather than the media.
Signed:
Director General
Ghana Standards Authority
