The more than 4,000 ex-workers of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) who were retrenched in 2002 without their severance benefits have called on President Akufo-Addo to fire Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiama.

At a meeting that the ex-workers held in Tema recently, Asiamah became the primary target of blame for the continued pendency of the payment of their severance benefits even though President Akufo-Addo has long directed that the payment be sorted out.

“Our information is that the Transport Minister has become the main impediment in the way of justice, for no fathomable reason at all,” explained Mr. Daniel Baccah.

Mr. Daniel Baccah added that, “the Minister’s behaviour has created a dent in the otherwise sterling faith that we the ex-workers have in President Akufo-Addo and this is not acceptable.

And so we think that the President will be doing a good service to his government if he fires him.”

President Akufo-Addo ordered the payment in August 2023, a year ago. However, for some reason, the payment has not been effected to the ex-workers who have suffered the injustice of denial for 22 years.

Minister Kwaku Ofori Asiamah is said to have developed cold feet over the payment and has been tip-toing around the matter.

Meanwhile in the period that the ex-workers have remained unpaid, many have lost families, with the wives of some being constrained to take to prostitution to feed themselves.

A number of them have also died out of abject poverty while some have lost their sanity and become lunatics.
Those who still remain have vowed to continue to fight for justice from the GPHA which, after retrenching the ex-workers, paid only five out of the over 4,000.

The meeting that was held in Tema, was part of a galvanization exercise to rally the ex-workers spread from Tema to Takoradi, to prepare for a massive and potentially violent demonstration that has been planned.
However, the Ghana Police is said to have pleaded with the ex-workers to postpone the demonstration because they do not have enough personnel to control the crowd which will be full of irate, angry people who are prepared their twenty-year-old anger and frustration on the GPHA.

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Daniel Baccah, who praised president Akufo-Addo and vice President Bawumia lamented that the GPHA ex-workers have been constrained to demonstrate at this time because, “the Akufo-Addo government has been very accommodating and sympathetic to our plight.

“However, this transport Minister has become a complete impediment.”

Mr. Baccah pointed out that President Akufo-Addo is a problem solver, saying that that is how come even the motto for the NPP’s 2024 election campaign is, “leadership is solving problems or to lead is to solve.”

“I am sorry to say that the transport minister has not been problem-solving like President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia, otherwise, an instruction that was released by the President for us to be paid wouldn’t still be pending today. Therefore, our call is that the President should fire him so that the embarrassment that he is bringing government will stop.”

Mr. Mohammed Alhassan, another ex-worker on his part said “the transport minister does not care about the poor ex-workers and should have been sacked long time ago.”