The Governing Board of the National Identification Authority (NIA) has decisively rejected a petition by the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU) of the NIA, which sought the removal of Executive Secretary Prof. Ken Attafuah over allegations of unfair labour practices.

The petition, signed by 920 staff members and submitted to President Akufo-Addo on Monday, 1 July 2024, accused Prof. Attafuah of unfair labour practices, claiming widespread staff support for his removal.

However, the NIA Governing Board dismissed these allegations, expressing unwavering confidence in Prof. Attafuah's leadership.

In a statement released on Thursday, 5 July 2024, the Governing Board asserted: “The Governing Board wishes to express its complete confidence in the Executive Secretary’s integrity, competence, experience, and resourcefulness in the performance of his duties, including the advancement of the interests of NIA workers and roundly describes the petition as baseless and unwarranted.”

The Board criticised the PSWU for bypassing internal grievance procedures and directly petitioning the President, deeming the union’s actions premature and inappropriate.

The Board emphasised that internal mechanisms should be utilized to address any grievances before seeking external intervention.

“As stated by the National Labour Commission (NLC) at a hearing on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, into ongoing negotiations between the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), the NIA Division of the PSWU (NIA PSWU) has no right to petition His Excellency the President to remove the Executive Secretary without exhausting internal procedures; the NLC declared the conduct of the NIA PSWU as both ‘illegal and completely out of line,’” the statement added.

The Governing Board urged all NIA staff to maintain faith in the leadership and join forces to achieve their common goals.

“The Governing Board shares the desire of the ICU and NIA PSWU and indeed all staff of NIA for improvement of their conditions of service and will continue to work with the Executive Secretary and Management and the unions to advance this common purpose in concert with other appropriate agencies of state.

Accordingly, the Governing Board hereby requests all staff to have faith and trust in the leadership of the NIA and to join forces to achieve this common end.”