Suspension of retirement contract: Kpebu urges skilled retirees to set up consulting firms

A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has welcomed the suspension of the contract extension policy introduced by the Mahama administration.

Kpebu noted that there are several people whose skills are not rare but are applying for contract extensions after reaching the retirement age of 60.

He also encouraged the skilled retirees to set up consultancy firms where their services can be engaged to allow for the younger ones to also take over in the public sector.

“Go and set a private sector, you can create consultancy firms, the government can come,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 12.

“You find people trying to hang on when their skills are not rare, let us use the law the way it should be and give others the opportunity,” he stressed.

For his part, Former Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah-Kubi, said that a person who reaches the retirement age of 60 but wants to continue working should follow the due process and provide adequate justification for his request.

He says the law is clear that when a person attains the age of 60, they should go on retirement.

“There is no need for us to debate this issue. The law is very clear that you must retire when you are 60. Our major problem is the politicization of everything in Ghana,” he also said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 12.

He stressed, “Let is follow the law…if there is a need for you to continue even after 60 let us see the justification and follow the due process.”

For his part, General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah Tanko has said retirees whose services are still needed should either be given 2 2-year extension or be engaged as consultants.

This, he said, would ensure that institutional memories are transferred properly because there is no proper succession plan in the civil.

“There should be a succession plan and continuity in civil service,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 12.

He added “we engage the persons as consultants, so we need to choose either you give the person 2 years to continue to engage the person as a consultant, we are dealing with organisational memory, because we do not take time, we lose organisation memory.”

Thomas Mussa further stated that labour is not against the retirement age of 60 years however it is important for the new policy to bd discussed thr0ughly to ensure that its implementation does not create challenges.

Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 12, he made the point that the corporate governance structure in the public and civil service should be looked at again. He argues that succession plans in the civil service currently are not what is desired, hence the need to look at it again.

“We are not against the retirement age of 60, that should be on record,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday April 12.

Regarding the policy, he said “Nobody is against it, we are all in support of it in principle. We need to engage in a dialogue to see how best we can get this implemented.”

“We all need to agree as to how the 0ublic service and civil service is run,” he stressed

Also commenting on the same show, a labour expert, Austin Gamey said that there is a strong need for younger people to be trained to curb unemployment.

To that end, he says he wholeheartedly supports the new policy to suspend the contract extension of retirees.

“I support this policy wholeheartedly because we need to develop and train young people to take up responsibilities from the older generation,” he said.

Mr Austin Gamey further noted that the system where retirees were given contract extensions was abused.

He says he is in favour of the suspension of the contracts to retirees.

“We don’t want to be putting people [retirees] on contracts for 2 years, it is an abuse and depriving young people,” he said.

Mr Gamey further asked organised labour to focus on training and retaining young workers by experienced workers on the verge of retirement.

He said there are millions of young people who need jobs and contribute to the growth of the country

His comment come at a time when organised labour has urged President John Mahama to conduct extensive consultations prior to the rollout of the directive that suspends the granting of contract extension to retired public servants.

The labour representatives argue that the directive has sparked unrest among workers, who express concerns over the potential loss of experienced superiors, individuals with deep knowledge of the workings of the public and civil services.

The leadership from the labour unions spoke exclusively with 3news’ Labour Affairs Correspondent, Daniel Opoku, in Accra on April 8.

The Labour Act 651 of 2003 mandates that the retirement age for public sector workers is 60 years, with those in the mining sector required to retire at 55.

Over the years, many public and civil services employees who reach retirement age have had their contracts extended to retain their expertise.

In Ghana’s public and civil services, over 700,000 workers are currently employed, each year, more than 1,000 of them retire.

The Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Joshua Ansah, said the directive should not take immediate effect.

“It is quite explicit in the constitution and also Labour Act regarding how we should manage people with reference to retirement issues and concerning how people can be employed even if they retire

“They may have a genuine reason for raising it, but we will educate and assist our countrymen to appreciate that it is not the intention of the executive to deliberately disengage people of 60 years who are supposed to be on retirement.”

He stressed “Organised labour should be interested in training workers, we should stop clamouring for people to stay over and above their age.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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