The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union of the Trades Union Congress has called for a free, fair, transparent and violent-free presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7.

The Union urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to be professional and impartial and work within the mandate of the Constitution and desist from public pronouncements that had the tendency to mar the credibility of the elections and its eventual outcome.

Mr Abdul-Moomin Gbana, the General Secretary of the Union, made the call in Accra at the National Executive Council meeting to focus on activities of the second-half of 2020 and for the ensuing year.

Mr Gbana called on the EC to create internal dispute management platforms readily accessible to all the actors by providing a complaint desk at every polling station as well as channels for providing timely feedback.

He urged the political parties, particularly the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, to be circumspect and law abiding and follow due process in the event of any electoral concerns in dealing with disagreements.

Touching on the effects of COVID-19 on the activities of the Union, Mr Gbana called on all stakeholders to urgently rekindle and double its efforts towards defeating the virus by adhering strictly to the preventive protocols as the world patiently waited for a vaccine.

He called on the World Health Organisation to work in collaboration with multilateral corporations and development partners to consider subsiding the eventual cost of the COVID-19 vaccine and make it accessible to everyone, including the poor and vulnerable around the world.

"I want to use this opportunity to call on the next Government of Ghana post December 7, 2020 to take immediate steps targeted at securing access and also consider absorbing the full cost of the COVID-19 vaccine for every citizen under a future COVID-19 Vaccination Programme in 2021", he said.

On corruption, the General Secretary said it was imperative for Trades Unions to break the loud silence and speak up more vigorously on national policy issues, particularly on corruption and corruption related offences.

"Trade unions are a part and parcel of the governance architecture of this country and must join the fight against corruption to ensure a just society,” he said.

“Corruption is the number one enemy to our progress as a people and we must rise up collectively and stamp it out of the system," he said.

The Union paid a glowing tribute to the late Former President Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, describing him as an anti-corruption activist who impacted many lives, organisations and the nation with his leadership style.

He said late Former President Rawlings, as the Head of State from 1981 to 2000, initiated and implemented aggressive policies to stimulate investments into the minerals economy of the country.

"Under the leadership of the late President Rawlings, the mining sector of Ghana received priority attention unrivalled by any other sector in the country under the Economic Recovery Programme in 1983".

Mr Joshua Ansah, the Deputy Secretary General of TUC of Ghana, commended the Union for its achievements in fighting for the welfare and interests of members.

He said the TUC had established the Ghana Labour College and Research to build the capacity of members to contribute to the country's development.