General News of Thursday, 5 April 2018

Source: ghanaguardian.com

NAGRAT strike pointless - Oppong Nkrumah

Deputy Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah Deputy Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

Deputy Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has hit back at the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) over their intended strike, describing it as pointless.

According to the Member of Parliament for the Ofoase-Ayirebi constituency, Government has already released GH40, 368,203 to pay the arrears, therefore, there was no need for the strike.

NAGRAT declared a strike effective Wednesday, 4 April, to pile pressure on the government to pay their arrears which have delayed since 2013.

At a press conference in Accra, NAGRAT President, Eric Agbe-Carbonu, said: “The disquiet of our members has reached its fever-pitch over the broken promises and deceit regarding the non-payment of these arrears by the government,” hence their strike.

But speaking in an interview on Accra FM on Thursday, 5 April, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said: “They are fully aware that the government has solved their problems, and, so, they should continue working, as the government finds other ways of further improving the condition of all teachers in the country.”

He added: “An amount of GHS 40,368,203.71 was released on the 29th of March 2018 to pay their arrears.”