The Volta Regional Chapter of Civil and Local Government Staff Association Ghana (CLOGSAG) is threatening to lay down its tools if the National leadership does not withdraw its newly appointed regional leadership.
The Association at a press conference in Ho today [Tuesday]said the National office had illegally transferred elected regional executives of the Association and appointed new ones.
Reading a statement on behalf of the Association on Tuesday, Richard Kumedzro, Volta Regional Organizer of CLOGSAG, said the Association will resist interference from the national body.
“We want to say that this is the first time that our national executives have refused to release the administrative allocations to the Volta CLOGSAG. We believe that because we said we did not accept their imposed leaders on Volta that is why they decided not to release the money which is not fair.”
The Regional Executive Council said the substantive Regional Chairman, Mr Innocent Agbolosu and Mr Franklin Atubra, Treasurer, were elected executives, whose elections took place in November 2018, pursuant to Article 17.1 of the CLOGSAG Constitution and that the appointment by the National President was illegal and must be reversed immediately.
Mr Richard Kumedzro said members of the Association in the region would lay down their tools if the issues are not resolved in two weeks.
He said the, “Danso-Lumor illegality” was rolling back the collective gains of the Association.
Mr Kumedzro also called on the national executive to release the mandatory “quarter-one” expenditure allocation to the Volta Regional Secretariat of CLOGSAG for administrative work for its members in Volta and Oti Regions.
“We believe that the denial….is an affront to the CLOGSAG motto, Unity and Equal Right, when the rest of the nine regions have dutifully received their allocations as of March, 2020,” he said.
Mr Kumedzro urged the national executive to fulfil its campaign promise of reviewing the outdated CLOGSAG constitution and immediately call an extraordinary delegate congress to address the matter.
He said the press conference was necessitated by the failure to acknowledge petitions sent to the headquarters, “making us believe that leadership has absolutely no modicum of respect for the people they claim to be leading”.
The Regional Organizer said consequently, “we have instructed our lawyers to file a writ at the High Court in Accra and further invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to seek justice and restore the integrity of the Association”.
Mr Kumedzro said, “We are determined to liberate ourselves and posterity whose rights of choice has been tied to the shackles and claws of oppression, subjugation and suppression”.
Members of the Association in the Region carried placards, some of, which read, “Stop the illegality now”, “Dr Evans Dzikum and Mr Isaac Bampoe Addo, Don’t Destroy CLOGSAG Volta”, “Enough of the intimidation” and “Mr President and Co., CLOGSAG is our union, not your private company”.