Finance Ministry Approves Revised Allowances for Senior Staff in Public Universities

The Ministry of Finance has officially approved the implementation of revised allowances for members of three senior staff unions within Ghana’s public tertiary institutions. This decision follows the successful completion of negotiations between the government and the unions.

In a statement dated May 21, 2025, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson announced that the revised allowances apply to members of the Senior Staff Association–University of Ghana (SSA-UoG), the Federation of Senior Staff Associations of Ghana (FUSSAG), and the Technical University Administrators’ Association of Ghana (TUAAG). The new rates are to be implemented retroactively from November 1, 2024.

The Finance Ministry emphasized that all other allowances should be paid in accordance with existing government-approved rates. Copies of the directive have been distributed to key institutions including the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, and major stakeholders such as the deputy ministers for finance and education, the Auditor-General, and the Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.

This development comes just a day after the three unions launched an indefinite industrial action, protesting the government’s delay in fulfilling a six-month-old agreement aimed at enhancing their working conditions.

In response to the strike, the National Labour Commission (NLC) has ordered the unions to immediately suspend their industrial action, citing its authority under Section 139(1)(d) of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).