Some members of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) are requesting that all cash taken from their paychecks for a pension scheme at the now-defunct CDH Asset Management Company Limited be released immediately.
The deductions were made to the firm for seven years, from 2012 to 2019, until it was declared bankrupt by the Bank of Ghana three years ago and placed under liquidation.
The employees claimed that GNFS management had received a full refund of the deductions from GCB Capital, the CDH liquidators, but had opted to pay half to the contributors and keep the rest until they retired.
When contacted, the Service refuted the claim, noting that of the over GH8 million approved by GCB capital as deductions from 2012 to 2019, around GH4.3 million, or half, had been paid to the management and the rest distributed to the 9,143 donors.
It stated that the liquidator owed the GNFS around GH4.3 million as the outstanding sum due donors as of Tuesday, and that it was consequently incorrect that management had secretly invested that money for profit.
On behalf of some colleagues, one of the impacted officials (name withheld) informed the Ghanaian Times last Friday that the management did not seek their authorization before the deductions began, nor did they fill out any forms.
"They just supplied our names and other information to CDH without contacting us, the personnel." We have no idea how much profit we are making or what the parameters of the CDH-GNFS agreement are. "If any of the employees passes away, his or her funds pass away as well," the personnel stated.
The officer further said that during a meeting held on June 28, last year, management communicated the plan to withhold half of their contributions.
The firefighter described the decision as unjust and inflammatory, stating that they needed their money soon or they would be forced to take matters into their own hands.
Other charges included that 80% of fire tenders were broken down, fire hydrants were malfunctioning, and employees lacked the tools they needed to battle fires effectively, yet the GNFS administration had reportedly done nothing about it.
Responding to the charges on behalf of the GNFS, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) Timothy Osafo-Affum, the Service's Head of Public Relations, recalled that in 2011, CDH presented the National Welfare Association of the Service with a strategy aimed at improving staff pensions.
He said that the Welfare Executives agreed that it was a good idea and requested authorization from the service's management to poll employees across the country.
"While employees agreed to the CDH policy, there was no consensus on the amount to be deducted." "While some employees chose GH20, others chose GH50," he explained.
According to ACFO Osafo-Affum, GH20 was accepted across the board in 2012, and deductions from the Controller and Accountant General's Department began.
"However, this was not mandatory, since certain personnel from the Ashanti Region chose not to participate and were left out," he explained.
Between 2012 and 2019, the deductions persisted, and certain employees profited from partial withdrawal from the coverage, according to ACFO Osafo-Affum.
He added that once the Bank of Ghana declared CDH insolvent and constituted a task group to follow up with the liquidators in October 2019, GNFS management ordered deductions to stop.