Kumasi — Workers in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi, last Friday observed this year’s May Day, with a call on President John Dramani Mahama to do something to save what they described as the ‘dead goat economy’ before he leaves the scene.
The workers, constituting the numerous labor unions and drawn from JUSAG, CLOSSAG, COCOBOD, Tertiary Education Workers Union (TEWU), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Electricity of Ghana (ECG) Ghana Health Workers Association (GHA), Airport Workers , Latex foam, Golden Tulip, Melcom among others, converged at the Jubilee Park for the addresses of the day.
The theme for the celebration was “The energy crisis; role of the Labour Unions”. The visibly aggrieved workers wielded placards which bore inscriptions like: “Dead goat economy”, “Mahama do something before you die”, “No agric no Ghana”, “Revive the railway, Prez” , “Fix energy crisis now” ,”Chiefs are taking over railway lands”, “Workers are workers not party activists” , “Teachers rationalisation should be transparent”.
In a speech read on behalf of the Secretary General of the Trade s Union Congress (TUC) by Madam Cynthia Maame Aba, she revealed that the power crisis was wrecking havoc on labourers, and appealed to President John Dramani Mahama not to manage the energy crisis, but fix it to liberate Ghanaians from growing hardships. Madam Aba stated that many workers are beginning to lose hope, as the crisis rages on endlessly.
Commenting on the recent development at the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), the TUC said it will not do Ghana any good to privatise ADB, stressing that public assets must remain public, while private ones remain private. The TUC noted that for the past 30 years, the Ghanaian economy is being run on the doctrines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), against the advice of TUC, resulting in negative yields.
She, however, thanked President Mahama for the assurance that workers would not face any redundancy in the 2017, as far as the IMF bailout directives are concerned. The acting Ashanti Regional Minister, Eric Opoku, reacting to the theme of the day, emphasised that the government is doing its possible best to solve the unfortunate energy crisis which has befallen Ghana.
Eric Opoku urged TUC to find an antidote to the exodus of Ghanaians fleeing Ghana to work in the western world, and rather stay here in Ghana and contribute their quota to the development of our dear nation to help maintain stability on the labour front. The Regional Minister stressed that the government was not oblivious of issues confronting the TUC, and gave the assurance that it will continue to engage workers on issues pertaining to them.
Source: allAfrica
