The Health Accounting Staff Association of Ghana (HASAG) is set to hold its 18th Annual General Conference in Bolgatanga from November 13 to 16, 2024 to brainstorm measures for the advancement of the association and financial management in Ghana’s health sector.

Being held on the theme, “Safeguarding financial resources through effective financial management, the role of finance and internal audit professionals," the conference is drawing together hundreds of HASAG members across the country to deliberate on pertinent issues affecting their profession and conditions of service.

The conference will particularlyaim at strategising to enhance the protection of financial resources in the health sector of Ghana.

It is part of the renewed effort of the association to promote financial governance, transparency, and accountability in the health sector institutions for effective resource management and improved health care.

According to the association, the quest to safeguard the financial resources in the health sector has become highly critical in view of the fast-paced and complex business environment, that calls for safeguards against financial corruption, abuse and misappropriation.

Explaining the objectives of the event, Emmanuel Dennis Kofi Amoah, National President of HASAG indicated that the conference would also discuss outstanding issues affecting HASAG members, including the disparity in the single spine salary structure.

According to him, there is a wide gap between the remuneration of members under the single spine salary structure and their counterparts in other public sector organizations such as Controller and Accountant General Department, Ghana Revenue Authority, Judicial Service and Audit Services among others, adding that there is an urgent need for the government to address the challenge.

He said they will also discuss ways of overcoming delays and conditionalities for promotions to chief accountant positions, and the inconsistent flow of remittance from Controller and Accountant General for the association to work with, indicating that the association is currently owed three months transfer arrears.

In addition, he expressed worry over the challenge of inadequate permanent staffing at the various Budget Management Centres (BMCs) in the District Health Directorates, most of which have temporal staff.

“We have huge numbers of temporal staff at the various BMCs. We have a lot of temporal staff in our various BMCs who have worked for more than ten years. However, we see people employed as accountants and posted. We call on the appropriate authorities to ensure that these temporal staff are mechanized to reduce the burden on the internally generated funds,” he stressed.

Regarding the conditions of service for HASAG members, he said the association has successfully negotiated the non-financials of their condition of service with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, awaiting the negotiations of the financials.