The Labourer Deserves His Wages; Otumfuo Reviews UTAG Strike

“As the good book says in Luke 10 verse 7, the labourer deserves his wages therefore I urge the government to continue to see that equity is manifestly done and the citizenry fully assured and satisfied”, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has stated.

He was speaking to the University Teachers Association of Ghana’s industrial action which began on January 10, 2022, and was called off on February 22, 2022, disorganising the academic calendar.

“As we are aware, our lecturers laid down their tools earlier in the year in protest against what they called “worsening” conditions of service. The strike lasted almost two months leading to disruption of academic work in all public universities across the country.

“Thankfully, the matter has been resolved and I would like to highly commend the government and the University Teachers Association of Ghana(UTAG) for amicably solving the impasse and restoring normalcy to the various campuses”, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) reviewed at the 56th Special Congregation of the university.

Similarly, the Asantehene urged the UTAG as well as other unions to be considerate in their demands from the government, especially in the country’s current economic downturn.

“In the same breath I call on UTAG and for that matter, all other unions on campus and Civil Societies at large to be measured in their expectations, particularly at this time that the global economy is battling the deleterious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

“I am not a student of economics but I know that resources are always limited and therefore we cannot have what we want all the time. I hope and pray that dialogue, goodwill and trust which are essential ingredients in resolving conflict will be applied effectively in all future negotiations between labour unions and government in order to avoid such prolonged strikes.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has already created a dent in the academic Calendar and we do not want to see labour unrest deepening this dent”, he said.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini