The leadership of the Ghana Highways Authority Senior Staff Association has called on the police to arrest and prosecute some NPP youth who attacked the Authority’s Tamale office.
The Association expressed disgust over the attack which is the third on the regional office in 2018.
A group of angry youth numbering over 30 and believed to be supporters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) last Tuesday attacked the Tamale office of the Highways Authority over claims that the office had awarded a road contract to a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“We had a report from the local Chairman from Tamale that there were several attacks but the last one that happened on 15th of May looked scary so they wanted our intervention so we met and decided that it is about time we let Ghanaians know that Ghana Highways Authority is a government property and these attacks are unwarranted,” the National Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of the Ghana Highways Authority said on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday.
He said the association is concerned that its staff may be opened for continuous attack if it does not indefinitely declare a strike till the government assures it and the perpetrators are brought to book.
“We want to protect our staff….In January, they came to the office to warn our people that they suspect that the region was giving contracts to people perceived to be NDC contractors. In April the same group went to the office again to warn our people and this attack followed. They warned them that they shall return…”
He said he was shocked over the threats since all contracts were awarded from the Head office in Accra and the Northern Regional office of the GHA only played supervisory roles.
“All contracts are awarded from Head office in Accra. They [Northern Regional office] only supervise. The contract award process is transparent. Every contract goes through the due procedure…We want those who attacked our workers to be arrested and prosecuted because that is an assault…. Our fear is that this issue may happen in other regions. If we don’t stop this one, other regions may pick up and it will be serious for our workers,” he said.
When a Citi News team visited the office on Monday, a red band had been hoisted at the entrance with an inscription, “Office closed.”
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
