{"id":36432,"date":"2014-08-02T06:11:29","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T06:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=36432"},"modified":"2014-08-02T09:18:52","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T09:18:52","slug":"ges-40000-drivers-unsustainable-nii-moi-thompson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=36432","title":{"rendered":"GES 40,000 drivers unsustainable \u2013 Nii Moi Thompson"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Economic Advisor to the President, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson has revealed that the Ghana Education Service(<\/span><\/span>GES) currently employs about 40, 000 drivers.<\/p>\n

According to him, majority of these drivers are redundant, but they have been added to the national payroll, thus increasing government\u2019s expenditure.<\/p>\n

Dr. Thompson stated that the number of people on Ghana\u2019s payroll, is 11 percent higher than that of the UK.<\/p>\n

He said the number of drivers employed by the GES is unsustainable.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/b>, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson further stated that government is devising a plan to reduce the number of people on government\u2019s payroll.<\/p>\n

But in a rebuttal, the Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Charles Aheto Tsegah<\/span><\/span> justified the number of drivers employed by the service saying it forms an \u201cintegral aspect of the Ministry\u2019s operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on Eyewitness News<\/b>, Mr. Tsegah<\/span><\/span> said the criticisms against the GES\u2019 move were unfounded since the number of drivers accurately corresponds with vehicles within the service.<\/p>\n

\u201cGES is not a small organization; we are talking about an organization that spans the length, breadth, width and every part of the country\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are talking about 37,000 basic schools, we are talking about secondary schools, we are talking about administrative structures, we are talking about a number of institutions,\u201dMr. Tsegah<\/span> said.<\/p>\n

According to him, every single driver deployed by the GES plays an important role in the sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have an institution of such a national magnitude you need drivers so you cannot just say that we have 40,000 drivers and want everybody to giggle about it. This is a serious matter\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not just talking about equipment that are not essential.\u00a0They are very important to the kind of resources we have to deliver to the nation\u201d Mr. Tsegah<\/span><\/span> added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By: Marian Efe Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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