Managing Director of the State Transport Company (STC), Nana Akomea, has said that former President John Dramani Mahama has no good track record when it comes to dealing with labor issues.
He says a promise by Mr Mahama to the labour unions should not be a concern to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) because of the track record of the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Nana Akomea was reacting to what a former Minister of Health Alex Segbefia, said that former President John Dramani Mahama was being truthful when he told labour unions that the finances of the country have been destroyed by the current Akufo-Addo administration.
Mr Segbefia indicated Mr Mahama could have simply heeded the demand of labour to increase their condition of service if he is elected into office in the December 7 elections but he did not give the promise knowing how the economy has been damaged by the current administration.
Mahama’s comment to labour unions shows he is a man of truth – Segbefia
“[John Mahama] is a man of truth and a true patriot. I was at the event and worker groups made the request. The easiest thing that could have been said was ‘We will give it to you ‘ but that would have been populism but he didn’t say that. He said let us be cautious, what I am going to inherit and what we are in now will not give me the laxity to just say that you will get what you want,” he said on the Big Issue in TV3 Tuesday, January 16.
Mr Mahama told the unions that he was restraining himself from making promises because the country’s coffers have been depleted.
Speaking at a ‘Campus Connect’ event in Hohoe, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer stated that Ghana is broke at the moment.
“This country is broke, and, so, we will beg you that when we come into office, give us a bit of a honeymoon. Let’s put things in place so that we bring the economy back onto its feet,”he said.
“And I will plead with the teacher unions: GNAT, NAGRAT, UTAG, and TEWU and all of them; I know all of you are clamouring for allowances.
“Let me caution you that in 2025 when we take over, we will show you the books and the finances of this country, and when we have done that, we can accede to your demands again, and that’s why I’m being very measured in the promises that I make because we all know the crisis in which this country has been plunged,” he further indicated.
Also speaking on the Big Issue, Mr Akomea said “It should not be a worry to government at all, especially as it is coming from John Mahama. John Mahama has a track record. If Alex Segbefia is the presidential candidate and he is making these statements, I will be worried because he has no track record so you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“John Mahama has a track record of being president for four and a half years, he made these statements in 2008, 2012, and 2013, State of the Nation address after the State of the Nation address, press conference after press conference he is made all these statements. He had four and half years, what did he do?
“I get the feeling that there is a certain complacency creeping into the NDC and I am happy about it. This business of when we come into power ‘give us a honeymoon’. Any government that comes into the office is given a honeymoon, they call it the hundred-day period. He said this same thing in 2013 when he became president. Do you remember ‘we have chewed the meat to the bone’ comment? It was John Mahama, who said that, he said they had chewed the meat to the bone and the country was broke and so the workers should be measured.”
Meanwhile, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has told Mr Mahama that they will ensure that whoever becomes president on January 7 2025 after the December 7 2024 general elections, meets the demands of workers.
TUC says that workers have rights under the laws of Ghana and those rights must be respected.
Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Daniel Opoku on Tuesday, January 16, Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, Joshua Ansah, said “Let me state that in 2025, whoever becomes president of this very country must be ready to meet workers and ensure that workers’ demands are met without any questions.
“Workers in this country, for 66 years after independence, have suffered and sacrificed a lot and we think that anybody who wants to become the president must be ready to ensure that labor rights are not dealt with with a child’s gloves, we are going to demand what is our right or what is good for us.”