Diaries Of An Oguaa Fisherman: Show Proof Of Research And Books Written, UTAG

It may sound weird for a fisherman like me to comment on the payment of UTAG’s Research and Book Allowance. And you may wonder and query, ‘where is his educational level? What does a fisherman from the ancient capital of Oguaa know in matters of education?

Well, I may be a fisherman but like our elders say, some birds are identified only when their names are mentioned. Also, when water is colourless you dare not say it is brown. It has become an annual ritual that when Universities are about reopening, UTAG holds the students and the entire nation to ransom by calling a strike. They are not demanding their Salaries, neither are they demanding monies for rent, they are demanding that the state pays them ‘A Book and Research Allowance. Sadly enough, they always have their way and succeed into stampeding government into kowtowing to their demands.

Government may have yielded to their demands but the bottom line is that the lecturers have to show proof of the books and the researches done commensurate to the allowances they have received and have been receiving (I don’t think this is too much to ask). They should be audited to ensure that all those who receive the monies adhere strictly to the tenets and the spirit of the BRA. The Education Ministry through the Universities can inspect what the allowances are used for by the lecturers.

Listening to the argument by UTAG justifying why the allowances should be paid en bloc makes me sick- a sickness that requires some fresh fish bombarded with some pepper soup and a Fante kenkey to cure.

Some of the Arguments adduced by UTAG as their defence are as follows:

1. The BRA is part of lecturers’ conditions of service and because it is part of their conditions, it was arrived at the negotiation table. The cancellation of the BRA will mean that UTAG/POTAG have been short-changed on their negotiated conditions of service, and shows that the government is shirking its responsibilities.- Fair and a valid point.

1. The NRF will not be for only members of UTAG. Its national orientation implies that anybody interested in research can access it – every Ghanaian can access it provided that whoever is applying for funds from it intends to use it to do research. This is part of the reason UTAG/POTAG will be short-changed if the BRA is scrapped.
2. We cannot judge the importance of research outputs of different disciplines in the same way, and therefore putting all research disciplines together will make access to the NRF discriminatory. For instance, the University of Cape Coast has some form of financial support for staff for conference attendance. But because there is some level of competition among lecturers (including other staff) in accessing such support, access has usually been discriminatory due to insufficient funds – the universities have usually cited lack of funds as their inability to fund all applications that they receive. We foresee a similar situation with the NRF. If anybody is in doubt, let us consider how people access GETFund support – access to GETFund support is very discriminatory; it favours some subject areas more than others.

1. Research forms part of the core mandate of university lecturers, which is three-fold: research, teaching and community service. For lecturers to be considered for renewal of appointment and promotion from one rank to another, these three areas are considered. Currently, in most public universities in Ghana, conditions for promotion are based on 50% research, 35% teaching and 15% community service.

Well, if the BRA is enshrined in their conditions of Service, can’t the employer review such repugnant conditions of service that is like pouring water into a basket? I dare say that it is not all the lecturers that are not using the BRA for its intended purpose. There are a good number of them that are doing justice to what they receive every year as BRA.

Sadly, it is not all of them who use the BRA for the purpose for which the monies were paid. In matters such as this, I expect the dead goat syndrome to be strongly activated to stop this abuse and rape of our monies. If the employer has realized that the purpose for which this Book and Research Allowance was included in the conditions of service of the employee has been besmirched, has the employer no right to restructure the conditions of service to achieve the needed results? I believe replacing the BRA with the National Research Fund should be the best way to go.

My fisherman understanding of a book and Research Allowance is that, it is an allowance that is given to lecturers to do their research, write books to help in the teaching and learning process. I guess I am right! Now, I just want the lecturers to ask themselves the books and researches they have done to merit the continuous payment of the BRA. In a meticulous manner, search the books and researches made by the University Lecturers that are demanding these allowances. I dare UTAG members to show us the books and the researches they have made out of the book and research allowances that they have collected since they started enjoying the BRA.

If my argument is illogical, why then would UTAG not embrace the National research Fund wholly and whole-heartedly but is seeking to demand the BRA even when the National Research fund has been instituted. UTAG should show commitment and good faith to make the National Research Fund work for the benefit of all the people instead of fighting for their own interest because the monies that come to them are not used for the intended purpose.

I guess UTAG members will not spare the politician that has been entrusted with our purse if the politician fails to account for the monies given them. I pray that if government fails to cancel the book and research allowance and replace it with the National Research Fund, it should demand of every UTAG member to account for the research and books that have been done using the allowances that were given to them. After all, he who seeks equity must come with clean hands.

Moreso, why is UTAG resisting the cancellation of the Book and Research Allowance that would be replaced with the National Research Fund? What are they afraid of?

I doubt if it is the application to access the fund that would be a problem to them. And why should the National Research Fund run concurrently with the Book and Research Allowance?

I totally agree that the 2014/2015 allowances should be paid to the lecturers but beyond this, the government should urgently speed up the setting up of the National Research Fund to replace the Book and Research Allowances.

If government will continue the payment of the BRA to UTAG, which I do not support, I pray the lecturers are made to ‘provide further and better particulars’ of their stewardship.

The writer, Richard Kwadwo Nyarko, is a Broadcast journalist, with JOY 99.7 FM. Email: [email protected] Like my Facebook page, Richard Kwadwo Nyarko. Twitter: @quajo2009