By
William Yaw Owusu
Thursday,
January 21, 2016
Thousands of public sector workers, with
support from the informal sector, yesterday took to the streets across the
country in protest against poor management of the Ghanaian economy leading to
the imposition of killer taxes.
The angry workers, under the umbrella of
organised labour, were particularly incensed by the hefty taxes and levies
imposed on petroleum products as well as electricity tariffs, pushing the cost
of living beyond the means of the average Ghanaian.
The demonstrating workers did not understand
why they should pay more for petroleum products especially at a time crude oil
was currently trading on the world market at below $28 per barrel, describing
the Mahama Administration as insensitive.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that at the time of the demonstration, President John Mahama
was out of the country, cooling off in Switzerland for the Wold Economic Forum.
The NDC government recently slapped utility
consumers and fuel users with heavy taxes and levies, earning the name ‘killer
taxes’.
The workers believed that the manner in
which the government was imposing taxes was unacceptable, warning that nothing
would change their minds until they see the scrapping of the killer taxes.
In Accra, the workers protested against
economic hardship and the government’s policies that had continually made them
poorer.
The peaceful and incident-free demonstration
led by the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) started from the Kwame Nkrumah
Circle and ended at the Independence Square where TUC General Secretary Kofi
Asamoah, on behalf of organised labour, and later Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of
Employment and Labour Relations, took turns to address the agitated workers.
The demonstrators hooted at the minister,
asking him to go away.
Workers’
Anger
Most demonstrators looked pained while they
held placards with inscriptions such as: “We need critical thinkers”, “Lazy,
sleepy Parliament + inefficient executive = killer taxes”, “We don’t need
killer taxes”, “Oh! John Mahama, why?” and “Mr President, your policies are
terrorising workers” among others.
The Industrial Commercial Workers Union
(ICU), Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), Ghana Medical Association (GMA),
Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG), Ghana National Association
of Teachers (GNAT), Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GNRNA), Ghana National
Graduate Teachers Association (NAGRAT), Concerned Teachers Coalition, Civil and
Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) and all TUC affiliate
unions had members at the demonstration.
The demonstration stalled the work of the
courts and many Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Starting from the Obra Spot at Circle at about
8:45am, the workers moved towards Kingsway and took a turn at Farisco, Adabraka
and headed eastwards to the TUC traffic intersection.
They then descended towards the National
Theatre intersection on the Liberia Avenue road, then to the Ministries traffic
light intersection before hitting the 28th February Road which leads to the
Independence Square where they converged at about 10:55am.
Police
Presence
There was an overwhelming police presence
during the demonstration and they could be seen at every traffic intersection
even though most of them were not armed except with basic riot control gears.
Later, Commissioner of Police Dr George Akuffo
Dampare, the Greater Accra Regional Commander, commended the demonstrators for
the peaceful manner in which they conducted themselves.
“All things were in position. The leadership
of organised labour followed the instructions we gave them and our men and
women have also acted professionally,” he said, adding, “Let me take this
opportunity to commend everyone here for what has happened.”
At the Independence Square when an
announcement was made that they were waiting for the Minister of Employment to
address the demonstrators, there were jeers and when he arrived a few minutes
later, it even grew louder.
Organised
Labour Stance
The TUC Secretary-General, Kofi Asamoah,
said the 59.2% increase in electricity and 67.2% for water, authorised by the
Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), was unacceptable and asked the
government to order a reduction without any delay.
He said the introduction of the Energy
Sector Levy under Act 899 which had resulted
in an ‘astronomical’ and ‘unjustified’ increase in prices of petroleum products
at a time the world market price for crude was at an all-time low could not be
justified.
“The message we are getting is that the
government has remained adamant but we will continue to press on to get the
reductions.”
He also complained bitterly about how the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is allegedly dictating to the government on
the management of the economy and said the Breton Wood institution has never
been able to deliver prosperity to any country.
He said organised labour wanted the
government to know that its policies were bringing hardship to ordinary workers,
stressing that “we want the demonstration to touch your heart.”
“We are not against tariff increment but at
the moment the workers cannot bear them. If these things continue, it could
cause social instability.”
He later said sarcastically that “we know
the President is a compassionate President and can have compassion on us.”
Government’s
Promise
The Minister of Employment said even though
the concerns of the workers are legitimate, “you could have chosen another path”
to vent their spleen since the action was not “politically expedient” in an
election year.
He said some of the policies of the government
had been designed to “protect your jobs in the foreseeable future,” and called
for continuous negotiations between the government and the labour front.
He said the government was committed to
making ‘overtures’ to the workers, adding that “we don’t take interest in
inflicting pain on workers.”
