Angry youth in afforestation workers storm forestry commission over unpaid allowances

Angry beneficiaries of the Youth in Afforestation module have stormed the head office of the Forestry Commission to demand their five months unpaid allowance.

The angry youth on Tuesday, 18 December 2018 said they were tired of the assurances given to them by the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) and wanted their money paid before the Christmas break.

Addressing the irate youth, Sir John said: “By the close of the day today and tomorrow you’ll have your monies in your e-zwich accounts. If you don’t get your monies tomorrow, come back here. And that is to assure you that the Ministry of Finance has released monies for your allowance.

“These are not monies coming from my pocket and the Ministry of Finance did release monies for us last week. The money went to the Controller and Accountant General’s department, and we have had to push for the Controller to release the monies to us and we have given the monies to our bank to pay into your e-zwich accounts.
“The monies were paid yesterday, and, so, by close of work today and tomorrow you’ll get your monies and we’re paying one month…”

Some police and military personnel were deployed to the scene to maintain peace.

In September this year, the youth protested against a decision to slash their wages from GHS1,200 to GHS700.