Staff of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) have accused management of failing to properly handle tax-related matters, resulting in an average 11 per cent reduction in their salaries.
The development comes as NLA employees remain on strike, with the workers also demanding the removal of the Authority’s Director-General, Alhaji Mohammed Abdul-Salam.
Speaking in a phone interview, Mr Murphy Adu-Kwao, Local Union Secretary of the Financial and Business Services Employees Union (FBSEU) at the NLA, said the salary reductions had left workers earning less than they did in 2024 despite a recent salary increase.
Mr Adu-Kwao acknowledged President John Dramani Mahama’s intervention on behalf of organised labour and civil servants, which resulted in a nine per cent salary increment.
However, he said the increase had been effectively eroded by deductions arising from tax-related issues.
“This is the situation all NLA staff are facing.
The short explanation is, the management in charge of handling taxes says there was an issue with the income tax deduction and the Ghana Revenue Authority has issued a caution and this, according to them, led to reduction in our salaries,” he explained.
According to him, the reduction in workers’ take-home pay averaged 11 per cent.
“It was a difficult situation for us,” he said.
The union secretary said workers were particularly concerned that they were being made to bear the financial consequences of what the union considers management’s negligence in handling tax matters.
He argued that employees’ salaries had traditionally gone through a strict validation process, making the situation difficult for workers to understand.
“This means all the negotiations done over the years has amounted to nothing,” Mr Adu-Kwao remarked.
Mr Adu-Kwao said the union’s review of a Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) report indicated that the tax irregularities had occurred intermittently over several years.
The union has subsequently engaged NLA management over the matter and demanded a 25 per cent upward adjustment in salaries to compensate workers for the reduction in their take-home pay.
However, Mr Adu-Kwao said no agreement had been reached between the union and management.
The NLA workers have therefore maintained their strike, with the demand for the removal of Director-General Alhaji Mohammed Abdul-Salam remain one of their key grievances.
