The Staff Union of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has indicated that they will not be cowed into submission or be intimidated by the Board members of the PURC.

This follows the Governing Board of the PURC describing as criminal and unruly, a demonstration by staff of the Commission that led them to lock out management and other staff over suspicions that the Board was conspiring to reinstate the former Director of Public Relations and External Affairs, Nana Yaa Jantuah.

In a statement, the Board said, among other things, it deemed it “very regrettable the unruly”, activities of the union, “coupled with the unsubstantiated, unproven and potentially libellous pronouncements” orchestrated by the union of PURC, led by its chairman, Alhaji Abubakari Jabaru.

The Board condemned the lockout on Thursday, 7 September 2017 saying it was “for no verifiable and substantive reason except to protest the purported return to office of the Director of Public Relations and External Affairs, Nana Yaa Akyempem Jantuah”.

“What was their justification for embarking on the needless and destructive action on Thursday which denied hard-working citizens regulatory services, and for which these workers are receiving salaries regularly?” the Board quizzed.



But a counter statement released by Alhaji Abukari Jabaru, Chairman of the Union, on Wednesday, September 13 said: “The release by the Board claimed that there was a ‘destructive action by the Union’ on the said date of the demonstration. The Union wishes to state categorically that no Commission or private property was damaged during its activities on the said date and this can be verified by the press or an audit.”

The statement added: “The PURC Staff Union has since its inception exercised restraint and has followed procedures in its quest for removal of the Executive Secretary and the Board by not being lawless. Petitions have been written with reminders to the appropriate quarters, submitted itself to the investigative work of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), worked under the guidance of the PSWU and controlled the anxieties of its members and even recently removed its protest posters to provide a congenial working atmosphere.



“However, the Union will not be cowed into submission nor will it countenance any acts of manipulation and oppression or be intimidated by the utterances of the Board and its members.

“The Union solely wishes to draw attention to the plight of professional and hardworking members of staff after several attempts to correct the wrongs and injustices that have characterised the Executive Secretary’s administration and the current Board headed by Mr Emmanuel Annan, whose tenure has spelt disaster for the Commission.”