The Bono Youth Organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Efo Worlanyo Tsekpo has alleged that the current New Patriotic Party’s government has planned to scrap the CAP 30 for the Police, Military and other security officers under the retirement scheme if they retain power in 202 elections.
According to the vociferous youth leader in a statement copied Awake News, the government planned to move the men and women in uniform from the CAP 30 to SSNIT by the end of this year, 2019 but the had to stop due to the “silent protest of the junior staff “.
Efo Worlanyo has stated that a piece of reliable information available to him suggests that the Finance Ministry had a directive from the seat of government to implement the police but “It was quite a surprise to know via the statement from the Ghana Police Service that government has no plan of abolishing the CAP 30, rather, it has been put on hold due to the upcoming presidential election in 2020”.
The CAP 30 is a non-contributory is a form of pension scheme Ghana inherited from its colonial master, which was in Chapter 30 of the 1950 British Colonial Ordinances (Pension Ordinance No. 42).
Though the scheme was supposed to have been phased out with the coming into effect of the National Pensions Act (766), passed in 2008, the government has shied away from picking such move.
However, news reports last month suggested that the current government is replacing CAP 30 with SSNIT for the men and women in uniform which the government and the leadership of the Ghana Police Service have since denied.
Read the full statement:
NPP GOVERNMENT PLAN TO SCRAP CAP 30 FOR THE MILITARY AND POLICE IF THEY WIN 2020 ELECTION
The news of government replacing CAP 30 with SSNIT for the men and women in uniform came up some few months ago but was disputed by the government and the leadership of the Ghana Police Service.
The information available to me showed that the finance ministry had a roadmap of moving all men and women in uniform from cap 30 to SSNIT before the end of the year but the silent protest of the junior staff made the government hold on with their decision till elections in 2020 have been held.
This was the information we had from the finance ministry been a directive from the seat of government. It was quite a surprise to know via the statement from the Ghana Police Service that government has no plan of abolishing the CAP 30, rather, it has been put on hold due to the upcoming presidential election in 2020.
I am perplexed as to why the leadership of the Ghana Police Service that is to seek the welfare of their own is apathetic.
CAP 30 is the only hope for our men and women in uniform and the future of their entire families depend on it. The condition of service of Ghana Police, the Military and other forces in Ghana is among the worse in the world so the only hope they have is the CAP 30. The leadership of the Ghana Police service are silent and defending government because their salaries and condition of service are far better than their subordinates so they seem not to care much about the plight of those in the service who do the ‘’donkey work’’ for them to take the glory.
A policeman in Ghana today buys his own uniform, shoes and sleeps in a room that looks like my mother’s kitchen in the village, all because they want to serve their motherland. The junior officers give their all in protecting the citizenry, including the politician and their senior officers but these same people instead of thinking of how to take them out of poverty, rather, are planning of taking their future away from them.
I, therefore, urge our men and women in uniform to refrain from the “Yes sir! Yes Sir!” attitude and watch their future be taken away from them by these politicians. Policemen were honoured during the term of the late President, Prof. Mills but such is not the case today.
The job of the IGP has been taken away from him to “Double’’ the phone seller who became a national security operative overnight. The police officer is now working under duress under this government.
These are clear in the outcome of the Ayawaso election.
It is pathetic to see a politician (Kennedy Agyapong) slap and disgrace a Regional Police Commander in public and all the Ghana Police service could do was to issue a statement. If this had happened to a senior officer then only God knows what next will happen to the junior officer in Ashanti region if he tries protecting the ballot box in 2020.
Forty years ago, it took a young officer to stand against the oppressors rule, it took that young officer to stand against the corrupt senior officers and politician, it took that young officer to liberate others from intimidation by their senior officers who were in bed with the corrupt politician, it took that young officer to bring back hope to our beloved country. The man Jerry John Rawlings.
It is, therefore, time for the young officers to resist the ploy of the government to take their future away from them. Now is the time they make their voices heard. The time to act is now not tomorrow!
Efo Worlanyo TSEKPO
0247046008
By: Efo Korsi Senyo / awakenewsonline.com