[ 2014-07-22 ]

All Eyes Red: Demo hits Mahama!
The John Mahama National Democratic Congress (NDC)
administration will this week experience an
unprecedented number of industrial actions and
street protests as various groups roll up their
sleeves for showdown with the government.

The last count indicated that over 10 of such
actions were being lined up for this week; four of
which started yesterday with more in the offing.

All the protests have the poor economic
performance of the Mahama government as their root
cause. The major one is scheduled for Thursday
July 24, 2014, when all workers – under the
aegis of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – are
expected to lay down their tools and vent their
spleen on the current economic hardship Ghanaians
are facing.

There are plenty labour agitations, from the
Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG),
the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), the Trades
Union Congress (TUC), the Ghana National
Association of Teachers on Pensions, Ghana
National Association of Graduate Teachers
(NAGRAT), nurses, importers and exporters,
headmasters of public schools, Teachers and
Educational Workers Union (TEWU), Industrial and
Commercial Workers Union (ICU), the ‘Occupy
Flagstaff House’ Movement to traditional
rulers.

The organisers of the demonstrations that have
been held as well as those yet to come off cite
high cost of living, deteriorating economic
prospects, empty promises by the government, the
fast falling of the cedi and unreliable utility
services and bad roads, among other things, as the
causes.

The Executive Director of local think-tank IMANI
Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, described the situation as
an ‘alarming sense of chaos.’

“…there is an alarming sense of chaos in the
political process. The only way forward is for the
whole nation to step back and return to the basics
about the national agenda and collective social
vision. Our leaders simply haven’t got their act
together in that department,” he wrote on his
Facebook page on Monday.

Monday Demo

On Monday, approximately four demonstrations were
simultaneously staged across the country –
Railway workers embarked on a sit-down strike in
protest against what they said were poor
conditions of service.

The strike grounded train movements, leading to
many commuters plying the Accra-Nsawam and
Accra-Tema routes getting stranded.

According to the Chairman of the Railway Workers
Union, Alex Nana Boateng, they would stay grounded
until an agreement was reached between the leaders
of the union and government on how their
conditions of service would be improved.

As at press time the government was negotiating
with him.

Last week, the Railway workers issued an ultimatum
to government about their intention to strike if
it failed to address concerns on their low incomes
and the growing challenges in the Railway sector.

Boko Haram

Just about the same time, over 500 workers of the
Tema Regional Office of the Industrial and
Commercial Workers Union (ICU) poured onto the
principal streets of Tema protesting the Mahama
government’s handling of the economy which they
described as ‘Boko Haram Government’ – the
terrorist group in the northern parts of Nigeria.

According to the workers, the current economic
hardship was unbearable and needed immediate
fixing.

Over 20 companies in the Tema Metropolis have
threatened to shut down if government fails to
reduce excessive corporate taxes and address
problems confronting the country’s economy.

According to ICU, BTI Limited, a steel company in
Tema, had shut down, rendering over 200 workers
jobless.

General Secretary of ICU, Solomon Kotei, disclosed
this while presenting a petition to the Tema
Metropolitan Chief Executive, Isaac Ashai
Odamtten, which is expected to be forwarded to
President Mahama.

He claimed the closure of the said companies could
affect about 4,000 workers.

In Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region of Ghana,
NAGRAT asked their members to abandon classes from
Monday July 21, 2014 and converge on the
Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly in what they
described as ‘Occupy the Assembly’.
In a NAGRAT press statement dated July 18, 2014,
it directed its members not to supervise any
activity concerning examinations in their schools,
and should not go to school till further notice.

Meanwhile, by Monday morning, about four different
communities in Ga West and Ga Central had staged a
massive demonstration over what they termed the
‘poor and deplorable nature’ of their
respective roads.

Placard-wielding residents of Oduman, Afoaman,
Manhean, and Borkorborkor – all close to
Ablekuman and Amasaman in the north-eastern part
of Accra – hit the streets, blocking main roads
and burning tyres while chanting war songs.

Lynching

The rapid response of police personnel from the
Accra Regional Police Command, Tesano, Odorkor
District and Amasaman District, prevented the
demonstrators from destroying properties and the
beating up of the Municipal Chief Executive of the
area, Sam Atukwei Quaye, who escaped lynching.

‘Black Thursday’

The TUC has planned a ‘Black Thursday’ and has
instructed all its members to down their tools for
the whole day.

The implication for this industrial action is
bound to critically upset the economy because,
according to labour consultant Austin Gamey, “If
the almost one million TUC members down their
tools on Thursday, the country will be brought to
its knees.” He therefore pleaded with the TUC to
rethink its decision.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Gamey disagreed to the
institution’s decision and advised it to rather
consider the repercussions of its intended
action.

But the TUC Secretary-General, Kofi Asamoah, has
vowed not to back down.

Doctors And Nurses

President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr.
Kwabena Opoku-Adusei, has said the association was
actively involved in the planning of the
nationwide industrial action of the TUC and might
devise its own dimension to the industrial
action.

Executives of the association would hold
discussions on how their members could participate
in the industrial action, describing the
government as being “insensitive” to the
plight of Ghanaians, even though workers have made
several appeals to government to come to their
aid.

“We met with higher authority; we were
instructed to meet the then Minister for
Employment and Labour Relations, Nii Armah
Ashitey; a common MoU [Memorandum of
Understanding] he refused to sign. I don’t know
whether this new Labour Minister [Haruna Iddrisu]
will be different.

“We are talking about continuous increase in
utility tariffs…we are talking about this
automated tariff adjustment system when our
salaries are not automated…generally about the
high cost of living where people’s salaries and
incomes are static and dwindling against the
dollar,” he stated.

Ghanaian nurses are also lacing their boots to
demonstrate against government for their unpaid
salaries and allowances.

UTAG And POTAG

Meanwhile, UTAG has also hinted at embarking on
industrial action over non-payment of their Book
and Research Allowance.

“We will soon be reopening for the next academic
year [but] the issue has not been resolved, and as
we are going into the next academic year we are
not sure where we are going to get our tools to
work with,” Dr. Ofori Bekoe, UTAG President
lamented.

“…We can’t work with our bare hands…if our
tools are given us then we will work. If not, we
cannot continue to go to work,” Dr. Ofori Bekoe
affirmed.

The threat by UTAG comes on the heels of a similar
action taken by members of the Polytechnic
Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG), who have
since May 2014 vacated the lecture halls in
protest over government’s delay in the release
of their Book and Research Allowance.

Exporters’ Beef

Importers and Exporters have also threatened to
demonstrate against new charges slapped on their
merchandise by the Ghana Ports and Harbours
Authority.

According to them, the additional charges are
draconian, given the fact that their trade margins
are already being eroded by the rapidly
depreciating Ghanaian Cedi.

Earlier last month, members of the Ghana Union of
Traders (GUTA) embarked on a four-day protest
where shops were closed over the rapid
depreciation of the Cedi.

Chiefs In The Fray

Even chiefs are not left out of the agitations for
the Mahama-led administration to be more sensitive
to the deterioration of the Ghanaian economy.

The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin,
Monday embarked on what was described as an
‘inspection’ of the bad road network in the
Eastern Region.

After the inspection, the Okyenhene petitioned
President Mahama about the total neglect of the
region in terms of development.

Recently, chiefs and traditional leaders in Ho in
the Volta Region threatened to hit the streets if
their road network was not fixed; additionally,
they demanded more development in the region.

They generally felt the government had paid
lip-service to the development of the area for too
long.

Source - Daily Guide

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