Payment of allowance for over 4,000 national service personnel in the Northern Region is likely to delay for December 2016 and January next as officials have threatened to withhold information needed for the processing of the allowances.

The officials of the Northern Regional Office of the National Service Scheme who are volunteers, say they will use the information as bargaining chip until they are considered for employment in the on-going recruitment of staff.

Checks by 3News revealed most of the personnel information which will be required by the Scheme to process and pay the service personnel, are on the personal laptops of these volunteers, which they have agreed to withhold.

The volunteers say they were chosen two years ago to run the Scheme following the corruption scandal that led to the dismissal of some permanent staff at the various offices of the Scheme across the country. According to them, they were placed on a GHC350 monthly allowance, and given assurance of employment when the need arises.

Notwithstanding the assurance, they volunteers in the Tamale Office of the Scheme claim the Kpessa-Whyte-led Management of the Scheme has failed to consider them in the on-going recruitment of staff.

The volunteers in Tamale numbering 35 say though they were made to apply for employment in the current recruitment exercise, the Managers have failed to consider them for the various jobs that they are already doing which the Scheme has earned credit for.

They claim despite Public Service Commission’s directive to the Scheme to cease the hold on with the recruitment exercise, some people have since December 13 been issued with employment letters to report to their various post. According to the volunteers, those who were invited for interviews on December 10 and subsequently issued with appointment letters on December 13 were party loyalists, claiming the acting Executive Director, Michael Kpessa-Whyte, is spearheading the appointment.

“Just imagine people working for two year’s and you ignore them to give their Jobs to other people. “More so many of this people, per the job description that was advertised, are not qualified.

Some just finished their service this year and are even on the Service extension programme,” they claimed.