Staff of the Local Government Service and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies have been tasked to eschew partisan politics at the office, stop backbiting, lateness, absenteeism, and work assiduously to develop their areas. 

Mr Michael Owusu Amoako, the new Chief Director of the Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), who gave the advice, urged the staff to concentrate on the very core reason for their recruitment into the Service. 

 He was speaking to the staff during a two-day tour to six selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Central Region. 

He visited Cape Coast Metro, Awutu Senya East and Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipal Assemblies. 

The rest are Awutu Senya West, Gomoa East and Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) District Assemblies.  

Mr Owusu Amoako indicated that the Local Government Service was a purposeful institution where partisan politics must not be entertained.  

He, therefore, called on the various Coordinating Directors and Chief Executives of the various MMDAs to enforce the required rules of the Service as expected, and ensure they were adhered to, for the staff to support government to achieve its objectives for national growth. 

He called for peaceful coexistence and team work as essential elements in the service which must be encouraged among the staff.  

The Chief Director noted that the RCC represented the government, and its political leaders being the Chief Executives must implement government programmes with support from civil and local service staff to achieve that purpose. 

Mr Owusu-Amoako further tasked the Human Resource Departments of the Assemblies to collate data and come out with a structure to monitor staff who absent themselves from work and copy their immediate Coordinating Directors and Chief Executives as well as his office for action.  

The Chief Director called on all staff of the various Assemblies to rally behind him as he embarked on a rigorous administrative drive to make Central Regional Coordinating Council a force to reckon with.  

Present with him were Mr Tally Ansah Asiedu, Head of Public Affairs for the Council, Mr Allan Pantsil, an Assistant Director I and Miss Erica Afadzie Hammond, an Administrative officer.  

Former President John Dramani Mahama, the standardbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), on Tuesday took his #BuildingGhanaTour campaign to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Accra. 

The former President, who was accompanied by Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the National Chairman of the NDC; Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the NDC Minority Leader in Parliament and Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the NDC Running Mate in the 2020 general election was received by Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, Secretary-General, TUC.  

Former President Mahama said as social democrats, the NDC believed in social justice and equity, and shared a common objective with organised labour represented by the TUC. 

“We both prioritise the welfare and wellbeing of the working class and ordinary people. This shared goal requires us to cooperate and collaborate to ensure the total achievement of our objectives,” he stated. 

He reiterated that the NDC and the TUC were allies. 

The former President said the history of global development showed that trade unions had being instrumental in shaping economies to promote universal human wellbeing. 

He said the progress made in the western world and other advanced economies was a testament to the tenacity of and resilience of workers unions. 

He noted that the interaction between the NDC and the TUC was a mark of even deeper relations to safeguard their common interest and ensure a better future for the working people of the country. 

He said just as no economy could survive without prioritising the wellbeing of workers, the NDC as social democrats recognised the need to design policies that accommodate the growth of industry and business and at the same time protect the interest of workers and their unions. 

“The NDC, which I lead, recognises that it does not have the monopoly of ideas and that it takes the cross fertilisation of ideas to achieve and sustain the economic progress of our country,” he said. 

He said the Party acknowledged the pool of ideas and expertise at the disposal of the TUC and recognised that the TUC had clear perspectives of the challenges confronting the country in this era as evidenced in their workers manifesto. 

He said as allies whose anchor ideology in social democracy, the NDC had no hesitation in inviting the TUC to actively participate in their strategy formulation processes; so that the concerns of the workers and the vulnerable could be adequately reflected in policy whenever they took over the reins of Government. 

Former President Mahama said no political party in Ghana was better aligned to pursue policies favourable to the working class than the NDC. 

“We firmly and ably ascribe to the tenets of social democracy, believing that the state and the market can work together to ensure economic expansion and equitably sharing of the fruits of economic growth,” he said. 

“We understand that our collective wellbeing as citizens resides in sustained economic growth through high productivity in sectors where we have a comparative advantage.” 

He said the NDC welcomed any opportunity to engage organised labour in the pursuit of these objectives continuously. 

He said Ghana had been hit very hard by a very harsh economic conditions over the last couples of years; declaring that under the current administration, Ghana had witnessed severe adverse effects due to what they in the NDC and many Ghanaians consider as self-inflicted economic crisis. 

He cited the high inflation rates, high cost of living, destruction of jobs, debt crisis, and negative impact from investors were some of effects of the current administration’s failed policies. 

Former President Mahama said the economic crisis had significantly impacted workers and citizens generally.  

He said unemployment rates, particularly among the young people, had risen to the highest in recent memory, making it difficult for many to find stable and decent paying jobs. 

He said inflation and exchange rates volatility had eroded workers’ purchasing power and had pushed many below the poverty line. 

Former President Mahama said the healthcare and education sectors had also being negatively affected with inadequate funding and deteriorating quality of services. 

Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, Secretary-General, TUC, present a copy of the TUC’s Workers’ Manifesto to the former President for input in the drafting of the NDC’s 2024 Manifesto.