The National Identification Authority (NIA) has announced its collaboration with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to resolve outstanding wage payments for its contract staff.

This comes after contract staff engaged in the nationwide Ghana Card registration for children under 15 raised concerns over unpaid wages for October and November 2024.

The affected workers, identified as “Team One Nationwide,” claim they have diligently fulfilled their duties but have yet to receive any partial or full payment for their services. Despite repeated letters and consultations with NIA leadership, their efforts to address the issue have been unsuccessful, prompting calls for immediate intervention.

The workers further alleged that the NIA directed them to the NHIA for payment, but the NHIA denied responsibility and referred them back to the NIA, leaving them in a state of uncertainty.

In response, the NIA issued a statement dated January 8, 2025, clarifying that the registration exercise for children aged 6 to 14, which commenced in October 2024, was a joint initiative in collaboration with the NHIA.

The NIA assured the affected staff that efforts are underway to address the situation and called for patience as it works with the NHIA to resolve the payment delays.

“According to the agreement terms, one of the responsibilities of the NIA was to recruit temporary staff to make the NHIA teams complete for the registration. Per the agreement, these temporary staff employed to assist the NHIA were to be paid by the NHIA. To enable the registration to move swiftly and as per the agreement, NIA also recruited extra temporary staff to be paid by NIA.

“The registration of children ran smoothly till the end of November 2024 when the project was suspended for a comprehensive review, considerations for the Christmas break, and the then-upcoming elections. In December 2024, NIA fulfilled its obligation by ensuring that all contract staff under its purview received their full payment for October and November. It was anticipated that the NHIA would follow suit and process payments for their allocated team. However, that did not happen,” it stated.

The NIA further indicated that on January 6, 2025, the Ag. Executive Secretary of the NIA and his management team held a meeting with nine representatives of the aggrieved group and reassured the representatives that the NIA was in consultation with NHIA to ensure that NHIA pays them as soon as possible.

“An internal memo was subsequently issued to reinforce the assurance that payments would be made by NHIA within the shortest possible time,” it added.

The NIA stressed that it was committed to maintaining transparency and upholding its contractual obligations.

It, therefore, urged “the affected contract staff to exercise patience as we collaborate with our partners, NHIA, to resolve this matter promptly.”