Some members of the community teaching assistant (CETA) programme of the Youth Employment Agency are not happy about the way their exit funds are being managed. The aggrieved beneficiaries of the CETA module have issued ultimatum if their exit funds are delayed further.
A statement signed by the leader of the group accuses the management of YEA of manipulations and working against the interest of the beneficiaries as they prepare to leave the scheme.
Read the full statement below.
Press Statement
ANGRY CETA BENEFICIARIES OF THE NATIONAL YOUTH EMPLOYMENT ENROLLED IN 2016 CRY FOR THEIR UNPAID EXIT FUND
We beneficiaries of the national youth employment agency wish to express our grievances through this press release to register our displeasure about the unfair and inhuman treatment meted out to us by the management of YEA. We have tried all avenues to air our concerns but it proved futile and most of us are sick and tired of how adamant management is in releasing our exit funds to us.
It is stated in our engagement letters that, a beneficiary of YEA in the 2016 YEA intake will receive a monthly allowance of two hundred and fifty Ghana CEDI’s (GH¢250.00) without any statutory deductions. An amount of forty five Ghana CEDI’s (Gh¢45.00) would be paid monthly into a beneficiary exit fund and would be made accessible to us at the end of our engagement. And GH ¢5.00 as insurance premium.
The unfortunate aspect of this whole drama is that the promised exit fund is subjected to selective payment and back door payment, which they termed as batches. We have served our nation wholeheartedly with all our might and strength , but there is no sign that our widows mite would be paid.
Beneficiaries are in different modules with different starting time. Some started in May, 2016 others June, July, August in that order. The different module employment were supposed to end in 2018 depending on the time of engagement. The various modules employment has come to an end, some seven months now, but the said exit fund has not been paid. Anytime we plan on a demonstration they will announce to us that payment has been done, we will rush to the banks and it will be a few people that has been paid.
They also owe most us many months of arrears which they have refuse to pay and told us the number of months a beneficiary received allowance is the number of months calculated for their exit package meanwhile they deliberately refuse to pay us those months and not that we didn’t work.
They even promised to pay an interest on our exit fund, the percentage as interest was not disclosed, beneficiaries who are paid didn’t receive any interest. If they are unwilling to pay the interest, our meagre exit entitlement should be paid.
Another problem too is that they refused to pay CETA module their last month allowance which is September with their reason that, base on their checks, it shows CETA beneficiaries were paid for the month of September, 2016 which means if they pay us for the month of September, 2018 it will be 25 months instead of 24 months. Meanwhile we also started on 14th October, 2016 which means we will end 14th October, 2018.
Some beneficiaries also said they paid Gh¢50.00 to an unknown person to facilitate their exit fund for them fast and truly all those that paid the Gh¢50.00 got their exit fund. We have a coalition of beneficiaries unit which are our leaders led by Mr Bossu Patrick. The unpardonable act by the leaders of our coalition unit led by Mr. Bossu Patrick is that, they have joined hands with management and whatever we will plan, they will cancel it.
It is revealed that Mr Bossu Patrick is also taking Gh¢20.00 from beneficiaries in order to facilitate their arrears for them, that he Bossu Patrick know someone in the office of YEA headquarters which he will contact him to process the arrears. We have seen the delay in payment of the exit fund as a deliberate act by management to extort additional amount from beneficiaries, because those that paid the said Gh¢50.00 to the unknown number have all received their exit package.
Management of YEA can not tell us there is no money for them to pay us because we are not now working, we have already worked for those months and our money has been paid in our exit fund, why won’t they release it at once for us and they have to pay in batches?
We beneficiaries have realized that YEA management led by Mr. Justin Kodua Frimpong is reluctant in the payment of our exit fund and we can’t sit down unconcern, fold our arms and watch our hard earn labour go like that.
We want to inform management through this communiqué of press release that 15th January, 2019 as deadline, if nothing is done we would take action, we do not care the consequence. This time we are no more going for demonstration but we will lock up all YEA offices to show that they are unable to do their work therefore government have to review the whole management of YEA.
They should mark our words!!!
Written by a hungry and angry beneficiaries of CETA.
Moses Nondoh
Leader of aggrieved members of CETA
Tel: 0541681125
