Our strike is not to challenge President Mahama’s authority — CLOGSAG

The Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG) has clarified its industrial action, saying it is not intended to challenge the authority of the President in making appointments to the Public Service.

In a statement signed by Mr Isaac Bampoe Addo, the Executive Secretary, CLOGSAG, after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Accra on Saturday, the Association said the strike was informed by the 2017 Supreme Court ruling that barred civil servants from engaging in partisan politics.

The Association declared an industrial action effective Thursday, February 20, 2025 over the appointment of Mr Samuel Adom Botchway as Acting Registrar of the Birth and Deaths Registry, describing him as a “politically exposed person.”

“We wish to state unequivocally that the ongoing strike is not against the authority of the President to appoint officers into the Public Services as enshrined in Article 195 of the 1992 Constitution,” the statement said.

“We are drawing attention to the Supreme Court ruling that emphasises the significance of neutrality, anonymity, professionalism, and permanence pf the Civil Service and Local Government Service.”

It argued that Mr Botchway was a politically exposed person and, thus, his appointment flouted the Supreme Court ruling on the neutrality of the Civil and Local Government Service.

The Government earlier appealed to CLOGSAG to rescind its decision to embark on the strike, emphasising that it lacked legal basis.

“We do not believe that an efficient basis exists to go on strike because it will be unfair to the people of Ghana who pay the wages of all public officers, including members of CLOGSAG,” Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, told journalists on Wednesday.

The CLOGSAG, after its NEC meeting on Saturday, urged its members to continue with the strike until the removal of Mr Botchway as the Births and Deaths Registrar

In 2022, the CLOGSAG kicked against the appointment of Mrs Henrietta Lamptey as Registrar of the place.

The Association argued at the time that the appointment process was at variance with normal practice.

It subsequently filed a suit at the High Court, challenging the appointment.

Among the reliefs sought by CLOGSAG was a declaration that “the Births and Deaths Registry is a Civil Service Institution…”

“…And further or in the alternative, a declaration that the Head of Civil Service must have an input in the appointment of the Registrar of the Births and Deaths as provided by law.”

The Court is yet to deliver judgment on the case.

GNA