Alhaji Yakubu Ziblim, President of the Civil Servants Association, said on Wednesday that negotiations on a new salary scale for the Civil Service with retrospective effect from February, this year had been concluded with government.

Speaking at the launching of "The Civil Servant" a journal of the Association in Accra, he did not mention the percentage of the increase, which according to him was a secret. He said, however, that negotiations on other allowances, especially Cap 30, which was for pension, were still going on.

Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister for Tourism and the Modernisation of the Capital, who launched the journal called on workers to let their voices be heard to move the country forward. He asked them to contribute articles that would generate reflection and thought to the journal, which is the mouthpiece of the Association.

Obetsebi Lamptey acknowledged the importance of civil servants, saying, "without them a country would find it difficult to manage its affairs". "You cannot have a good private sector as an engine of growth without a good public sector, and be able to sustain the government's golden age business policy," he said.

Obetsebi-Lamptey noted that good journals survived on reputation built over the years for expressing clear thoughts, adding that, the Association should take advantage of the repeal of the criminal libel law to lead a new type of journalism.