RUWA-GHANA-GHANA is a non-profit women’s right NGO. It was formed in December 2005 in Datoyili, a suburb of Tamale, the capital of the northern region of Ghana. It started with a small group of women agro processors mobilized by Masud Aziz Rauf. It was registered in August 2006. Its purpose is to bring together rural and urban women in Northern Ghana who have suffered tremendously from inequalities and poverty for long and to improve their situation as well as those of their children.
The accounting system and procedures detailed below have been designed to meet the specific needs of the Rural and Urban Women’s Association. It has been prepared following a comprehensive review of the organisation’s operations and reporting requirements.
To improve the situation of rural and urban women of northern Ghana and their families by assisting them to unite and work together through economic empowerment, health interventions and good governance
To enable all units and functions of RUWA-GHANA meet the standard financial and management reporting requirements as legally demanded.
To provide a comprehensive documentation of the operational and control measures for the efficient management of RUWA-GHANA as an organisation.
To serve as a source of reference to all employees and management.
To provide the basis for consistent reporting as a fundamental policy in business management and accounting system.
To ensure that proper channel of communication is observed and respected.
To ensure that proper records are kept in respect of all activities and transactions on the basis of generally accepted principles, and that the records as maintained by the organisation are in accordance with legal provisions.
To provide relevant, timely and accurate financial and cost effective information to aid management decision-making.
This handbook shall guide the operations of the organisation in achieving its laudable objectives and mission. The specific responsibility for the adherence of these regulations lies with the Board of Directors.
The Executive Director shall ensure that a copy of this manual is available and accessible by all employees of the organisation. This Handbook is a confidential document and must not be distributed or made accessible to persons outside the organisation, in whole or in part, without the express permission of the Board.
All requests for payments of funds and collection of items from Stores require the authorisation of the Executive Director.
Two signatories are required for the payment of cheques for which sufficient funds shall be available at the bank.
All payments and refund of expenses from imprest (petty cash) shall be approved by the Executive Director and the Accounts Officer.
An amount of Two Hundred and Fifty Cedis (¢250.00) shall be approved each month for the imprest system.
All expenses claimed shall be accounted for before new claims are approved.
All employees who collect cash from the imprest (petty cash) shall submit receipts or honour certificates in support of all expenses made.
Cash not spent or utilised shall be returned to the Accounts Officer.
The Accounts Officer shall sanction any employee who refuses to account for funds disbursed to him/her, which may include withholding such amounts of funds from his/her monthly salary.
The Executive Director in collaboration with the Board shall consider and approve all estimates before its implementation.
2. Basis of Accounting
The accounting year adopted by RUWA-GHANA is January to December every Calendar year.
The organisation’s financial statements shall be prepared under the historical cost convention.
Fixed Assets
An asset or tangible item shall be capitalised as a Fixed Asset according to the criteria below:
It physically exist
It has a useful life over one year
It has value equal to or exceeding materiality limit as set out by management from time to time
It has not been acquired for subsequent resale.
It is new, or old, or its materiality enhances the expected working life of an existing asset.
The following Concepts underline the accounting and reporting within the organisation and shall be observed at all time in all transactions:
Accruals
All income and expenditure relating to a reporting period in which the services or products are provided must be accounted for, without regard to date of receipt or payment.
Matching
All expenses associated with an income or expenditure shall be taken into account in the same period as the income or expense is recognised.
Prudence
The value of any item or service shall be determined on prudent basis.
Consistency
Accounting policies shall be applied consistently from one period to another.
Historical Cost Basis
The accounts shall be prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of Fixed Assets.
The Accounts Officer with the supervision of the Executive Director is responsible for the preparation, accuracy and timeliness of all financial reports.
Financial reports are required to be prepared on periodic basis and submitted to authorise recipients within reasonable time as follows:
Type of Report
Frequency
Time Schedule
Bank & Cash Balances
Daily
First in the Morning of Every Working Day
Cash Forecast
Weekly
Two working days into the following Week
Statement of Accounts Receivables
Monthly
First Week of the Month
Accounts Payable
Monthly
First Week of the Month
Inventory Report
Monthly
End of Month
Bank Reconciliation Statement
Monthly
End of Month
· Budget Vs. Actual Expense Comparison
Monthly
End of Month
· Income & Expenditure Account
Quarterly
By end of First week of the following (new) quarter of the year
Balance Sheet
Quarterly
By end of First week of the following (new) quarter of the year
Fixed Assets Register
Quarterly
By end of First week of the following (new) quarter of the year
Budget Revision/ Reallocation (if any)
Quarterly
By end of First week of the following (new) quarter of the year
Assisting the Executive Director and the Board in maintaining and controlling the financial affairs of the organisation.
Designing, recording and maintaining the necessary Books of Accounts on daily bases.
Preparation of Payment vouchers and payrolls.
Keeping imprest and maintaining the Petty Cash Book.
Certifying all physical inventory exercises.
Collaborating with other sections of the organisation for the purposes of preparing the final accounts of the organisation
Liaise between the Executive Director and Board and financial institution/other organisation for issues relating to finance
Providing financial reports to the Executive Director and the Board on timely basis.
Assist the Executive Director in administrative duties when he is temporarily absence from office, except in cases where approval of the Executive Director is mandatory.
Accounting for Fixed Assets
Except as otherwise state, some projects and program shall treat the purchase of fixed asset as expense. In such instances the value of the asset may be recognised as a fixed asset after the project or program elapses and the ownership of the asset is transferred to the organisation.
Fixed Assets are recorded on the historical cost basis and depreciated using the straight–line method.
Cost within this context, shall be defined as being composed of:
Actual purchase price of the asset
Any necessary expenditure incurred in the acquisition of the asset and bringing the asset to its current location
Any expenditure incurred on the asset that has the effect of prolonging the useful life of the asset.
Each Fixed Asset acquired shall be categorised into one of the following groups:
Freehold & Leasehold Property
Plant & Equipment
Motor Vehicle (incl. Motor Bikes)
Office Equipment
Furniture & Fixtures
Capitalisation Policy
The Board of the organisation shall determine the cost/value to capitalise all assets.
Traditionally all assets, which cost below Five Hundred Cedis (¢500.00), shall be written off in the year of purchase.
Depreciation Provision
Unless the cost of an asset is otherwise expensed, depreciation shall be provided on a straight-line bases at rates determine and approved by the board, calculated to reduce the book value of the asset to zero balance at the end of its useful life.
A full year’s depreciation shall be computed in the year of acquisition and none in the year of disposal.
No depreciation shall be computed on fully depreciated fixed assets.
Disposal of Fixed Assets
Disposal of fixed assets shall be carried out upon the written authorisation of the Board.
Proceeds from the disposal, if any, shall be recognised as income and deposited into the organisation’s bank account.
Identification of Fixed Assets
All fixed assets acquired shall be assigned an identification number clearly inscribed on them with legible and meaningful combination of characters of alphabets and numbers proposed by the Executive Director and Accounts Officer.
Physical Inspection
The Accounts Office shall be responsible for all physical inspections.
Once every three months (quarter), a physical inspection of all fixed assets shall be carried out to determine their fitness of purpose and working condition.
A report of the exercise with recommendations shall be submitted to the Executive Director.
Fixed Assets Register
Details of Fixed Assets shall be required on records to ensure proper control.
A fixed assets register shall contain, among other things, the following details:
Name of Asset
Brand/Model/Make
Description
Date of Purchase
Identification Number
Location
Depreciation Rate
Expected useful life
Year of Disposal etc.
Revalued Assets
Where fixed assets are revalued during the course of their life, the Fixed Assets Register shall show the value before and after the revaluation.
The Accounts Officer shall show some indication of the basis of the revaluation in the register.
The Accounts Officer shall make the necessary accounting adjusting entries to reflect the revaluation.
Funds Management
The Accounts Officer shall enter all cash and cheques received in the Cash Receipt Book before transferring the details to the accounts books.
All cash and cheques received shall be deposited at bank as early as convenient.
Except as provided for petty cash purposes, no cash received shall be spent.
Receipts or cheques with mistakes or writing defects shall be cancelled and stapled to their duplicates or counterfoils to securely retain them for verification.
All defective Receipts and Cheques shall be clearly marked as cancelled or void.
Safety Box for Valuables
The Board shall provide a Safety Box or Cabinet made of steel with well-secured lock and keys in the Accounts Officers office.
The Safety box or cabinet shall be used for storing cash and other valuable documents of the organisation.
The Board shall keep duplicate keys to the safety box.
Payments
All payments shall be made by cheque except where it is replenishment of an authorised float or imprest.
Payment by Cash to third parties shall be discouraged.
There should be one chequebook in use at any particular time.
The Executive Director shall keep all unused Chequebooks under lock and key.
All payments shall be made against specific requests made from payment vouchers raised by the Accounts officer, and approved by the Executive Director.
Proceeds Received.
All cheques due to the organisation shall bear the name of the organisation as the payee/beneficiary.
All payments to the organisation by cheques shall be crossed.
All receipts of cash and cheques shall be banked intact by the end of the next working day without deductions for expenses.
Cash and cheques shall be paid into the organisation’s bank account using approved paying-in-slips.
The Accounts Officer shall keep the paying-in-book.
No employee shall receive funds meant for the organisation in his personal name.
Investment Register
Bank balances found to be in excess of normal quarterly requirements for projects, programs and administration shall invest in the safe securities (e.g. Treasury Bills & Government Bonds) with the prior approval of the Board.
Separate records shall be kept for every transaction of investments showing the type of security, date of purchase, the maturity date, the amount of funds invested and the expected income thereon.
No funds shall be release to any individual, employee or board member for personal investment through advances or loans.
Posting of Accounts Totals to the General Ledger
The Petty Cash and The Columnar Cash Analysis Books shall be totalled at the end of each month and the sum total of the entire expenses (cost centers) shall agree with the total payments Column.
The sum total of payments column of the cashbooks shall be posted to the credit of the respective bank account in the general ledger and the debits to the respective expense captions in the general ledger.
Reconciliation of Bank Statement
Reconciliation of the Cash Book with Bank Statement involves adjustment of the bank statement at the end of the month to reflect cheques drawn and lodgements (deposits) made, and entered in the Cash book but not yet recorded by the bank and, vice versa.
Where the bank statement shows an overdrawn account balance, the procedure shall be the reverse of the above. In which case, outstanding lodgements (deposits) are deducted while outstanding cheques are added to the negative bank balances, to rectify the anomaly.
SUBSCRIPTIONS ACCOUNT
The RUWA-GHANA-GHANA is a registered association whose capital is raised from membership contributions decided annually at a general meeting of the membership.
Members are informed through written correspondence and notices with a copy of the resolution demanding the new year’s subscriptions.
Receipts shall be issued for all subscriptions paid by members to the Accounts Officer.
All such funds in respect of subscriptions received shall be deposited in the organisation’s bank account.
The Accounts Officer shall effect the necessary accounting entries to take account of the subscriptions received by:
Dr – Bank Account
Cr – Subscription Account
With the total proceeds received from members as subscription.
At the end of the year the totals of the Subscription account must be adjusted accordingly taking account of subscriptions paid in Advance for the next year and unpaid subscriptions (arrears) for the current year.
The Accounts Officer shall effect the necessary accounting entries for closing the subscription account at the end of the year by:
Dr – Subscriptions Account
CR – Income & Expenditure Account
With the net value of the subscriptions account after all adjustments.
The Executive Director and all key personnel of the organisation are responsible for planning and budgeting of the organisation.
The Account Officer shall be responsible for ensuring the timeliness and consolidation of all program budgets including the annual Budget.
The Executive Director in consultation with the Board and key personnel shall on annual basis define long and short term planning with objectives for each department of the organisation.
Each department (program area) shall have its own plan incorporating its specific objectives and strategies, which shall all be consolidated to produce the organisation’s plan.
The Executive Director and key personnel shall monitor the performance of each department (program area) in relation to their budgets during each budget period, and review or adjust them as required to meet their objectives.
Each year, a full business assessment (evaluation) of the general business environment of the organisation shall be carried out. Specific areas include: the economic opportunities, the needs in the communities to be addressed, grants opportunities and threats, etc. Each department shall indicate how their objectives could be achieved in the light of the assessment.
At the end of each year, the Executive Director and key personnel shall undertake Pre-budget review to consider the following:
The analysis of the current year’s results
Trends and factors mitigating against successes
Key issues critical to success in the budget period.
Management action plans to bridge the gap between current and projected performance. This shall specify tasks to be achieved, assigned responsibilities, indicators of progress and target completion dates.
The Executive Director and the Accounts Officer shall be assisted by key personnel to prepare the annual recurrent Budget which shall provide:
An objective estimate of operating expenditure for the next year
The projected income from prospective and current program sponsors
Staffing requirement and projected payroll expenditure
Fixed Assets required for execution of projected programs and their cost.
Specific ongoing program funding requirement and expenditure
An estimate of any project surplus or deficit in the budget projections.
An internal control system shall ensure that laid down policies are well defined, organised, authorised and approved to ensure transparency and order.
The Board is responsible to ensure that adequate measures are in place for effective and efficient running of the organisation.
The Board shall provide adequate control measures that shall make it possible for the assets and properties of the organisation to be safeguarded and unnecessary losses are avoided.
The accounting records of the organisation shall be sufficient to show and explain the organisation’s transactions and shall be such as to:
Disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the organisation; and
Enable the Board to ensure that any balance sheet and income statement prepared, comply with legal requirements as to their form, content and otherwise.
The accounting records must in particular, contain:
Entries from day-to-day transactions of all funds received and expended by the organisation, and the matters in respect of which the receipts and expenditures takes place, and
A record of the assets and liabilities of the organisation.
In addition, where the organisation deals in inventories, the accounting records must contain:
Statements of stock of materials held at the end of each month and financial year,
All statements of stock-taking from which any statement of stock of materials has been prepared, and
Except in the case of goods purchased for resale, showing the goods and the sellers and buyers (or beneficiaries) in sufficient details to enable verification.
An accounting system shall provide for the orderly assembly of accounting information and appropriate analysis to enable financial statements to be prepared.
What constitute an appropriate or adequate accounting system shall depend on the size, nature and complexity of the organisation.
The Executive Director shall ensure proper scrutiny of invoices, Bills and claims for payments and refunds to ensure that the purposes for which they are made are proper and budgeted for.
The Accounts Officer shall be responsible for:
Checking the arithmetical accuracy of records. Such controls include checking the casts on the invoices, bills and claims, and recalculating VAT and other taxes, where appropriate.
Maintaining and reviewing control accounts and trial balances. Control accounts include debtors and creditors ledger control accounts, bank reconciliation statements, fixed assets register and inventories valuation.
Comparing results of cash, security and inventory counts with the accounting records.
Comparing internal data with external sources of information.
Limiting direct physical access to assets and records. An important general principle with respect to assets and records is that of segregation. In particular there shall be a division of responsibilities for:
Authorisation or initiation of transaction
Physical custody and control of assets
Recording transactions and protecting them from access by unauthorised personnel.
The Executive Director shall ensure that:
Procurement of inventories and assets are made under proper authorities and procedure.
Procurement of materials, assets, tools and services shall be made for according to real needs for the proper conduct of business operations and are procured from suitable suppliers or providers.
All materials, assets, tools and services received shall be effectively inspected or assessed for quality and condition.
Invoices and related documentations shall be properly checked and approved before accounting entries shall be made.
The Accounts officer shall accurately record all valid transactions relating to supplies services and adjustments in the accounting books.
The system in place with regards to wages and salaries is consistent with the nature of the organisation with policies in force concerning:
Engagements, promotions and discharges of employees.
Time attendance and job recording.
Preparation of payroll vouchers and analysis of wages and salaries.
Payment of wages and salaries.
Liabilities to the Tax authorities for PAYE and SSF contributions shall be properly recorded and accounted for.
Salaries and Wages Control Procedures
The computation of wages and salaries shall be in respect of identifiable persons employed at authorised rates of pay.
Changes in rates of pay shall be authorised in writing by the Executive Director in consultation with the Board.
No overtime allowance shall be authorised and paid.
The Executive Director shall check and approve all documents and cheques for the payment of wages and salaries.
All employees shall sign the vouchers and payroll for all payments made to them in respect of salaries and wages or claims of any kind.
No employee shall be allowed to collect the wages, salaries or claims of another employee unless he/she has a written permission of the employee concerned.
The control of cash is clearly of prime importance in any business. The objectives for such control are as follows:
All sums of money received shall be subsequently accounted for.
No payment shall be made without authorisation and approval.
All receipts and payments shall be promptly and accurately recorded.
The signing of blank cheques in favour of any person is prohibited.
Unless otherwise to be used for the petty cash or payment reasonable sums of money to an employee, all cheques shall be crossed before being issued to beneficiaries.
Bank account balances must be checked and confirmed before writing out cheques for payment.
Stock or inventory Records vary considerably from one organisation to the other, however the control objective of an efficient system of management over inventories require the following strategies:
Effective authorisation and proper procurement procedures
Control over movement of inventories
Proper recording for receipts and issues by physical counts, and ensuring proper documentation and accurate record keeping on timely basis.
Control over access to stores, intakes and deliveries.
Proper management of stock levels for reorder/replenishment.
Avoidance of unnecessary losses and wastage or theft through proper security measures put in place by the Executive Director.
All inventories shall be held in a spacious and secured storage facilities with lock and key and an assigned officer to be designated by the Executive Director. In the absence of a fully employed store keeper, the Accounts Officer shall act in such capacity until a substantive person is employed.
These embody the terms and conditions of service in the organisation and would apply to all employees (full-time/part-time) and persons on attachment.
Unless context otherwise requires: “Organisation” means the Rural and Urban Women’s Association; “Executive Director” mean the Chief Executive Officer; “Board” means the Executive Council; “Family” means an employee, his wife, and children under 18 years who are not gainfully employed. [in case of female employees, the above definition excludes husbands]; “Working day” means any working day excluding Saturdays and Sundays, public holidays or prescribed “off-days” sanctioned by the Board. “Salary” means sustentative monthly earnings and does not include action allowances. “Wages” means sustentative remunerations for contracted work on “by-day” basis and does not include any form of allowance.
The Board reserves the right of adding to, amending or cancelling from time to time as may be found necessary, any of the terms or conditions here-in laid down.
Any question arising out of the interpretation or application of these rules shall be referred to the Board whose decision shall be final.
All appointments and employments of all categories of staff shall be subject to the approval of the Board in consultation with the Executive Director.
Employment with the organisation begins on an effective date stated in the appointment letter.
Employment with any previous employer (if any) does not count as part of an employee’s continuous period of service with the organisation.
Any period of service of attachment in any capacity with the organisation (if any) does not count as part of an employee’s continuous period of service with the organisation.
The Board shall provide newly engaged employees with letters of appointment stating: (a) salary scale (b) salary point (c) effective date (d) probation period and (e) any other conditions governing the employment.
All employees so engaged shall undergo a probationary period of six (6) months, after which an appraisal shall be conducted to justify their further engagement or otherwise, which shall be confirmed in writing to the affected employees.
Before a probationer’s service is terminated on grounds other than summary dismissal, i.e. for unsatisfactory service, redundancy, or committing a breach of the organisations rules warranting termination of service, the employee shall be given 14 days notice (after the appraisal) in writing or paid 14 days salary in lieu of such notice.
A probationer who resigns before the end of his/her probation period shall give the organisation 14 days notice in writing, or forfeit his/her salary in lieu of failure of such notice.
Every employee shall be required to maintain a high level of decency and decorum in interacting with other employees and clients of the organisation.
Employees shall resolve not to divulge or release to any outside person at any time information concerning the transactions of the organisation and its activities.
The disciplinary rules that apply to employees and persons on attachment shall be found in section 9 to 13 of these regulations.
Section 3. Salaries & Wages
The Board shall determine the Salaries and wages of all employees for the organisation after taking into consideration the nature and scope of work, government income policy and the resources at the disposal of the organisation from time to time.
An employee shall draw the salary of the grade to which he/she is appointed from the date of his/her appointment thereto and, subject to approved service, the periodic increments, if any, in his/her salary shall accrue at such times as the Board shall recommend.
Increment in the salaries of all employees shall be subject to continuous good work and discipline, and shall require the results of an appraisal and approval of the Board.
If an employee’s increment is withheld for unsatisfactory performance or conduct, he/she shall be informed of the shortcomings and the period for which the Board would withhold the increment.
Special merit employees may be rewarded additional increments at the discretion of the Board.
Further increments after an employee has reached the maximum of the scale shall be at the discretion of the Board.
Section 4. Operating Hours and Allowances
The normal Hours of work shall be 8 hours a day, from 8.00 am to 12.00 noon and from 1.00pm to 5.00pm Mondays to Fridays, except public holidays.
Overnight and out of station allowances shall be paid to employees who are assigned to perform official duties their duty post stations for the period which they complete their assignments.
The Board shall determine the rates of allowances payable periodically.
Section 5. New Positions & Promotions
All vacancies shall be filled as much as possible by promotions from within the organisation, by qualified employees, if any, otherwise the vacant position shall be advertised for qualified applicants to fill the position.
Promotions shall be based on qualification, performance, discipline and seniority.
The organisation shall encourage employee to update their knowledge and skills through capacity building for better working practices and efficiency.
Section 6. Annual Leave
Vacation leave shall be earned and granted to all employees who have served in the firm for up to One Year at the following rates:
Senior Officers – 21 Working days.
Other Staff -18 Working days.
Application for leave shall be addressed to the Executive Director in case of all employees, except the Executive Director who shall apply to the Board.
An employee on leave who is prevented by illness or injury from returning to duty on the day on which he/she is due to resume work shall submit medical certificate by a registered medical practitioner or other tangible information in explanation of his/her absence.
An employee who overstays his/her leave except in circumstances beyond his/her control, shall liable to deprivation of salary for his/her absence without leave and shall also, at the discretion of the Executive Director be liable to reduction in his grade or to dismissal from the organisation.
Vacation leave may not be accumulated.
An employee may apply for casual or compassionate leave to enable him/her attends to his/her urgent private affairs. If the organisation is satisfied that the reasons are genuine, the employee may be granted not exceeding 5 working days in any one year.
On leaving the service of the organisation on grounds other than summary dismissal, the employee who has less than 12 Months service shall be granted earned leave and leave allowance not taken or payment in lieu thereof in proportion to the number of Months served. The employee with a year’s service or more on leaving the organisation on grounds other than summary dismissal, shall be granted earned leave and leave allowance one way, or payment in lieu therefore of in proportion to the number of months served after his/her last leave.
Employees shall not be entitled to leave allowance.
Section 7. Allowances
Employees who own bicycles/motorbikes shall be entitled to reimbursement of maintenance expenses up to a specific amount to be approved by the Board.
Employees who own private cars to reimbursement of maintenance expenses up to a specific amount to be approved by the Board.
Official travel for assignments would be paid on kilometre allowance calculated at determined rates approved by the Board.
No food subsidy shall be paid to all employees, unless otherwise determined by the Board.
Employees shall not be entitled to transportation allowance, unless otherwise determined by the Board.
An employee who is appointed to act in a higher position than his own grade for more 30 days shall be paid an acting allowance of difference between his salary and the salary paid for the grade he/she is working for.
The organisation shall not pay the cost of medical treatment for employees illness, except in cases of accidents while carrying out official duties.
Approved bonus calculated at a determined rate of annual salaries shall be paid at the end of each project cycle to all employees in the service of the organisation for that project at a period to be determined by the Board.
Section 8. Advances
Advances may be granted to an employee at the discretion of the Executive Director who shall be informed of the purpose on receipt of a reasonable application and will exercise such discretion as to the size and frequency of the advances and the condition of payment as may seen fit in the circumstances.
Section 9. Limitations
An employee shall not draw salary in advance without the previous sanction in writing from the Executive Director.
An employee shall not:
Borrow money from or in any way place himself under pecuniary obligation to a moneylender or an employee of the organisation or any company or persons having relationship with the organisation.
Except with permission in writing to the Executive Director, guarantee in his/her private capacity the pecuniary obligation of another person or agree to indemnify in such capacity another from loss.
Engage in another business or commercial activities whether for reward or otherwise either on account or as agent for another party.
Engage in any transaction or do any act, which reflect on his integrity as servant of the organisation.
Except with the consent in writing from the Executive Director, accept appointment in any capacity elsewhere during working hours.
Openly campaign for any political party at workplace or show course to align the organisation to any political affiliation.
No employee is permitted to derive any benefit in the course of his/her official duties which might have the effect of placing him/her in such a position that his personal interest and his duties to the organisation or to any client/group of the organisation would be in conflict and he/she shall refrain from taking any course or action which might place him/her in such a position.
An employee who falls in debt while holding and managing the organisations funds or inventory, shall immediately submit a statement of his / her position to the Executive Director or to such other person(s) as the Executive Director may direct and shall indicate in the statement the steps he/she is taking to rectify his/her position.
Section 10. Discipline
Summary dismissal: At the discretion of the Board, this may be effected by the organisation at any time in the event of an employee being guilty to a serious misconduct of offence.
Written Warning: where the services or conduct of an employee has is unsatisfactory, or where an employee commits an offence which does not in the opinion of the Board merit summary dismissal, the employee may be given written warning (or query) to which the employee shall be permitted to reply (explain) in writing.
Suspension: if an employee is suspected of being guilty of any offence which would justify summary dismissal, the Board may suspend the employee from duty while further investigations are carried out. During the period of suspension from duty, the employee shall report to the Executive Director at least twice a week and leave an address with The Executive Director at which he could be contact as soon as required.
If an employee fails to comply with the directives over a period of one week, the organisation shall be entitled to assume that the employee has vacated his post without notice, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
During the period of suspension, from duty, the employee shall be entitled to half salary, but if the employee is cleared after investigation from the course or causes of the suspension then the employee shall be reinstated in his/her position and shall be paid the full salary for the period during which he/she was suspended.
Section 11. Termination
An employee may resign by giving on month notice to the organisation in writing.
if the appointment of an employee is terminated by the Board other than on grounds of summary dismissal, the organisation shall give one month notice to the employee or shall pay one month salary in lieu of notice.
Section 12. Gratuity
The organisation shall have no policy on Gratuity other that the statutory deductions and payment of the SNNIT Contributions which shall be paid on behalf of all employees during their period of active engagement.
Section 13. Procedures for Grievances
The employee upon engagement accepts that it is the organisation’s responsibility to provide the need environment to achieve its mission; and he/she also accepts the responsibility that it is his/her duty to work efficiently, protect the goodwill and property of the organisation as well as further the interest of the organisation. Therefore, the employee and the Board shall make every effort to resolve all differences amicably according to laid down procedures.
If an employee is dissatisfied with any disciplinary decision that affects him/her, the employee should appeal in the first instance to the Executive Director.
If an employee has a complaint about his/her employment he/she shall apply in the first instance to the Executive Director.
An employee shall explain his/her grievances by:
Making an oral discussion with the Executive Director for solution or redress.
Subsequent steps after this stage, if required, shall be in writing to the Board through the Executive Director.
The decisions of the Board on all such matter are final and binding.
The ownership of the organisation shall be rested in the hands of the members who have subscribed a prescribed minimum amount approved at an AGM.
The corporate powers of the organisation shall be entirely in the hands of the Board.
The management and administrative functions of the organisation shall be in the hands of an appointed Executive Director, who shall head the secretariat.