[ 2021-03-17 ]

Ignore reports of rift between local, foreign staff at AfCFTA secretariat – Govt
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has refuted
reports that there is a rift between Ghanaians and
foreign nationals at the African Continental Free
Trade Area secretariat which Ghana hosts in
Accra.

In a statement, it said such reports were not only
false and misleading but disingenuous.

“The Ministry of Trade and Industry wishes on
behalf of the Government of Ghana to state
emphatically and unequivocally that there is no
such rift or tension between the Ghanaian
nationals and their foreign counterparts at the
Secretariat.”

Since August 2020, when the Secretariat was
formally commissioned, the ministry explained that
Ghanaians have played a role within the transition
period “to assist the Secretary-General to
commence operational activities, while the formal
process of recruitment is activated.”

“The OST [Operational Support Team], since its
deployment, has had a harmonious working
relationship with the Secretary-General and his
initial team made up of foreign nationals.”

The team has been working pending the hiring of
permanent staff, according to the secretariat.

“It is therefore erroneous to create the
impression, as the report suggests, that the
Secretary-General is averse to working with
Ghanaian nationals.”

The Ministry further noted that “Ghana as a
member of the African Union (AU), like any other
member state, has a specific quota for nationals
that entitles them to apply for positions and work
in the AfCFTA Secretariat”.

“In this regard, when the AU recruitment process
for permanent staff for the Secretariat commences,
interested citizens may apply on a competitive
basis to be considered for recruitment to the
AfCFTA Secretariat.”

“The claims made in the said report that the
Secretary-General is attempting to sideline
Ghanaian nationals are false,” it concluded.

Source - Citinewsroom

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