The Government of Ghana, through the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has formally approved the implementation of revised allowances for eligible members of three senior staff across public universities in the country.
They include Senior Staff Association of the University of Ghana (SSA-UoG), the Federation of Universities Senior Staff Association of Ghana (FUSSAG), and the Technical University Administrators’ Association of Ghana (TUAAG), bringing to an end months of negotiations and industrial action that disrupted administrative operations across many public universities in the country.
“Following the conclusion of negotiations between the Government and the Senior Staff Association – University of Ghana (SSA-UoG). Federation of Senior Staff Association of Ghana (FUSSAG) and Technical University Administrators’ Association of Ghana (TUAAG), approval is, hereby granted for the payment of revised rates of allowances payable to eligible staff of the above-stated Unions per the attached schedule marked as ‘Appendix A’”.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Ghana’s Minister for Finance
According to the Ministry, the revised allowances will take retrospective effect from November 1, 2024.
In a letter signed by the Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, addressed to key government agencies including the Controller and Accountant-General, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), and the FWSC, the Finance Ministry explicitly granted approval for the payment of the new rates.
The implementation of this agreement is expected to significantly improve the working conditions and morale of non-teaching staff in Ghana’s public universities.
Approved Allowance Structure
The approved allowance structure, detailed in an attached appendix to the Ministry’s directive, includes new rates for various categories of entitlements.
For instance, the kilometric allowance for senior staff who use personal vehicles for official assignments has been pegged at GH¢3.50 per kilometre for cars and GH¢1.40 per kilometre for motorcycles.
Similarly, the rent allowance has been set at 20% of the monthly basic salary, while owner-occupier staff are entitled to 25% of their monthly salary under the university’s housing policy.
Other allowances include tools allowance fixed at GH¢7.00 per day, travelling expenses based on a seven-tonne load at prevailing STC rates or equivalent, and tiered height/depth allowances ranging from GH¢2.80 to GH¢5.60 per day, depending on the nature of exposure.
For permanent transfers, eligible staff will now receive an amount equivalent to three months’ basic salary, while temporary transfers attract full hotel accommodation for three months, coupled with 20% of the staff’s monthly salary over the same period.
In a significant shift toward addressing cost-of-living challenges, the government also approved GH¢300 per month for sanitation duties and GH¢400 per month for security roles undertaken by senior staff.
Additionally, a utility allowance of GH¢400 per month has been approved for all senior staff, underscoring the government’s recognition of the increasing burden of utility costs on public sector workers.
Other key allowances retained at existing or government-approved rates include acting allowance, funeral grants, warm clothing support, salary advance options (not exceeding three months’ salary), and daily subsistence for day trips now valued at GH¢145 per day.
Notably, the acting allowance now comes with a guaranteed minimum: eligible acting staff will receive either the difference between their current salary and the minimum salary point of the acting post, or 20% of their basic salary, whichever is higher.
In addition, a non-basic allowance of 8% of monthly salary has been approved across the board for all qualifying senior staff.
Significant Milestone
The implementation of these revised allowances marks a significant milestone in public sector labour relations, particularly within Ghana’s tertiary education landscape.
The move comes on the back of sustained industrial agitation by the three unions—SSA-UoG, FUSSAG, and TUAAG—who jointly declared industrial action recently to press home their demands for improved conditions of service.
Following the Minister of Finance’s approval of the revised allowance, the unions have directed their members to resume work on Friday, May 23, 2025.
The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission played a key mediating role in securing consensus, with the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission also heavily involved in ensuring that the demands of the unions were aligned with national fiscal priorities.
With the new structure now approved and implementation directives issued, attention is expected to shift toward compliance and monitoring to ensure timely and accurate disbursement of the allowances.
University administrations across the country will be under pressure to update their payroll systems to reflect the revised entitlements, with oversight from the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department as well as the Auditor-General’s Office.
Dr. Forson, in approving the new framework, emphasised the government’s commitment to improving the welfare of all public sector employees within the limits of fiscal sustainability.
He reiterated that the payment of all allowances must align with government-approved rates and called for immediate implementation of the directive by all relevant institutions.
The letter was copied to the Deputy and the Minister of Education, the Auditor-General, Audit Service, the Chief Director, the Coordinating Director, and the Director of Budget, all at the Ministry of Finance and finally the Chief Executive of the Fiar Wages and Slaries Commission, underscoring the inter-ministerial and department engagement in addressing the issue.
The successful resolution of the dispute and the subsequent government approval for implementation signal a broader willingness by the new administration to engage constructively with organised labour, especially within the critical education sector.
For the unions involved, the approval represents a vindication of their collective resolve and the strategic importance of industrial action in achieving labour justice.
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