The Minority in Parliament has described as unacceptable, the replacement of some public sector workers by the government.
It has thus declared its support for the campaign by organized labour to impress upon the government to cease the practice.
In a statement signed by the caucus leader, Haruna Iddrisu, he said many of the workers who have been removed from their officers are now facing “excruciating levels of hardship and misery.”
“we wish to join Organized Labour in demanding that Government respects the inalienable right of workers to security of tenure without undue harassment and political intimidation,” the statement said.
“We lend our voice to the demand of Organized Labour on Government to end the specter of replacing public sector workers who are in their positions on account of merit with large numbers of Political Appointees and Special Assistants thus relegating highly experienced professionals to the background. In a number of these cases, workers have either been rendered redundant or lost their jobs completely exposing them and their families to excruciating levels of hardship and misery. This is completely unacceptable!” the statement added.
The minority’s call comes at a time when the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) have given the government a 2-week ultimatum to recall all civil servants compelled to proceed on leave in favour of hired special assistants.
Meanwhile, the minority in parliament has also commended Ghanaian workers for their contribution to the development of the country.
It urged them to continue to give their best in service of the country “in very difficult and challenging circumstances.”
Read the statement below:
On the occasion of May Day 2018, the National Democratic Congress Minority in Parliament wishes to salute the gallant workers of Ghana. We use this occasion to reiterate our unflinching solidarity for the working people of our beloved Ghana and assure the working class that we are partners in the joint struggle to eliminate oppressive working conditions that undermine the dignity of labour and hold back the realization of the full potentials of the working class.
We wish on this occasion to express our support for the working people in their just demands on Government to make the lives of working people both at their work places and homes more tolerable. In particular, we wish to join Organized Labour in demanding that Government respects the inalienable right of workers to security of tenure without undue harassment and political intimidation.
Accordingly, we lend our voice to the demand of Organized Labour on Government to end the specter of replacing public sector workers who are in their positions on account of merit with large numbers of Political Appointees and Special Assistants thus relegating highly experienced professionals to the background. In a number of these cases, workers have either been rendered redundant or lost their jobs completely exposing them and their families to excruciating levels of hardship and misery. This is completely unacceptable!
We also wish to take this opportunity to commend the hardworking people of Ghana for continuously striving to deliver in very difficult and challenging circumstances. We in the Minority wish to urge them to continue to give off their best and step up productivity in the supreme interest of our dear Nation.
We wish on this occasion once again to stress the commonality of our links as people on the same social strata and to assure them that we would always stand by them.
Long live the Working Class!
Long live the NDC!!
Long live the Republic of Ghana!!!
Signed
HARUNA IDDRISU (MP)
Minority Leader, Parliament of Ghana
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
