The Ghana Technology University College (GTUC)-Lecturers Association has announced an indefinite strike action beginning today to register their displeasure at delays in the passage of the Ghana Technology University, GTU Bill.
According the lecturers, though the effort of government at initiating the process to making GTUC a full public university is commendable, the bill is taking too long to pass, as it still remains at the executive level.
In a news conference, the chairman of the GTUC Lecturers Association, Dr. Samuel Kingsford Seglah said, “the document has been going back and forth in the system for sometime,” adding, that “the delay in forwarding the bill to Parliament for passage is unthinkable.”
The lecturers want government and Parliament to expedite action on the passage of the bill to give legitimacy to the operations of the University.
Additionally, they argue that the absence of a governing council has adversely affected the smooth running of the institution including promotions and key appointments that have been pending for more than a year, and staff salaries that have not been adjusted upward since 2014.
Dr. Seglah explains that following the removal from office last year of the then president of GTUC, Prof. Osei Darkwa, a three-member Interim Management Team, IMT, was put in place to temporarily manage affairs, pending the appointment of a governing council and a new President. He said the IMT has so far not given the University any strategic direction since they took office.
“All their decisions have been adhoc in nature,” he lamented. ” This is also due to the fact that the IMT lacks locus as the university is currently without a governing council to ratify some of these decisions.”
He noted that the faculty cannot continue to work with the IMT, and that it should be dissolved immediately and a substantive management put in place under a well constituted governing council.
Dr. Samuel Kingsford Seglah in the midst of his compatriots donning red arm bands with some clad around their necks to signal their seriousness, stressed that a strike action has become necessary as the only option left for the faculty of GTUC since government has on three separate occasions failed to respond to their ultimatums or address their concerns satisfactorily.
He said the third and final ultimatum ended on Monday, 24th September, 2018 having extended it from 17th August, 2018 after the deputy Minister of Communications, Mr. George Andah invited both the IMT and leadership of the GTUC faculty to a meeting in an attempt to address some of the issues. He maintained that the lecturers were not satisfied with the outcome.
According to Dr. Seglah, until their concerns are fully addressed, faculty has withdrawn all academic services, including thesis supervision and issuance of reference letters to students and alumni, with the action remaining in force on all GTUC campuses in Accra, Takoradi, Kumasi, Koforidua and Ho.
Story by Nana Agyemang-Prempeh
