EC employee sued over alleged altering of age

The Electoral Commission(EC) and one of its employees Hajia Sa-Adatu Maida have been sued because the employee has allegedly changed her age and has been working past her retirement age.

The plaintiff, Boakye Assomaning Tawiah, argues that Hajia Maida is over 60 years per her date of birth of June 5, 1958, on her Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) records.

He is seeking a declaration from the court that Hajia Maida “ was due for her compulsory retirement since 5th June 2018.”

He wants the court to order her to “proceed on her compulsory retirement fourteen days following the final determination of this suit.”

Mr. Tawiah is also hoping to save the state some money by securing a ruling that all money paid to Hajia Maida by the EC “should be refunded to the state including the interest on the said payment to the 1st defendant [Hajia Maida].

According to his suit, Hajia Maida had written to SSNIT on July 31 and tried to change her date of birth to June 5, 1961.

She claimed the 1958 birth year was a mistake and presented a purported birth certificate to back this claim, according to claims in the suit.

But SSNIT responded to her on August 9, 2018, with details endorsed by Hajia Maida to the effect that her date of birth was June 5, 1958, Mr. Tawiah said in his suit.

“Plaintiff says [Hajia Maida] first registered into the Social Security Scheme on 22nd February 1979 and stated her date of birth as 5th June 1958 and then signed and thumb printed the membership registration card.”

Also to support his case, Mr. Tawiah said in his suit, “on 15th September 1993, [Hajia Maida] again completed another SSNIT change of beneficiary form and stated and confirmed by signing and thumb printed her date of birth as 5th of June 1958.”

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The lawyer for the plaintiff, Maxwell Opoku Agyemang, the same man who led a group of EC staff to petition for the removal of former EC Boss Charlotte Osei, said that they’re not embarking on a personal agenda and that their interest is to protect the state.

Within Ghana’s public and civil service, people are often accused of changing their ages in order to work longer than the specified number of years.

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