The Bank of Ghana is to release over 42 million cedis to pay the severance package of some 960 former workers of the defunct UT and Capital banks. Payment for the severance package which has delayed for over a year now will be paid from Friday, January 18. BoG agreed to release the amount after negotiations with the leadership of Union of Industry Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF).
A total of 548 of the workers are from the UT Bank, with the remaining 412 from the Capital Bank. The two parties, BoG and UNICOF agreed to a two-and-half month’s salary multiplied by the number of years the worker was in the employment of the banks. General Secretary of UNICOF Kofi Amegashie told TV3 issues about leave days and loans accessed were also considered during the negotiations. The loans owed the banks by some of the workers will be deducted from their package. Those with a basic pay of less than 1,500 cedis who took loans in excess of 70,000 cedis would not receive any package. Also, the former workers who received mortgage loans are expected to pay off in two years or have their assets confiscated. Other employees who now work with the GCB Bank will also receive their exit package.. “They are just fortunate because GCB Bank has maintained some of their branches so they needed additional staff that is why they were maintained. However, whatever is due them will be paid,” Mr. Amegashie said. The UNICOF General Secretary urged the Bank of Ghana to tighten its supervisory and monitoring role. He also commended the BoG for its recent sanitization of the banking sector “I must use this platform to applaud the Bank of Ghana… for taking a decision to streamline the banking sector. We need it, because when the sector collapse, our economy is on the verge to collapse,’ Mr. Amegashie stresses. By editors.3news.com| Ghana
