The University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana(UTAG) have declared an indefinite strike action expected to be effective on 3rd January 2022.
The decision taken on Friday, December 17, 2021 comes after an earlier decision by the group to reject the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between government and the national leadership, National Executive Committee (NEC).
The MoA indicated that all university lecturers will receive a research allowance of $1,600 payable in 2024 and an Interim Market Premium will be implemented in 2022 after review by December, 2021.
However according to UG-UTAG “This decision, however, was subject to approval and ratification by all branch members of UTAG as provided under article XI sec 3 of the UTAG Constitution.”
“UG-UTAG and the six other campuses that formally submitted written resolutions to reject the MoA, constitute more than 60 percent of the entire local membership of UTAG across the country, therefore, the decision to reject the MoA should be determined by the number of individual members as defined by the UTAG Constitution, but not by the number of branch members.” UG-UTAG’s resolution jointly signed by President Dr Samuel Nkumbaan and Secretary Professor Ransford Gyampo said.
The resolution further stated that NEC’s decision to overturn the decision of the generality of members was “unconstitutional and undermines the
concept of representation.”
The group called on other branches of UTAG to support their decision and dissociate themselves from the decisions of the parent association. “We call on all other branch members to support our decision to dissociate ourselves from the UTAG National leadership for entering into a deal that does not completely represent the interest of its membership, except perhaps for themselves only.”
