Trades unions are said to be continuous associations of workers formed for the purpose of maintaining and improving their conditions of employment.

Their aim is not merely to fight against wage cuts but also to fight for higher wages.

Broadly, trades unions perform two types of functions: (1) fraternal and mutual-help and (2) fighting or militant functions.

The fraternal functions include, organising social and infrastructure development for their members. These include; games, lectures and running of schools, clinics and hospitals for their members.

The militant functions of the unions refer to the struggles with their employers to get higher wages or for getting their grievances redressed.

Sometimes, however, for very good reasons,  the militant ‘gesticulations’ of some of the labour unions are directly pointed at their own leadership or specific members of constituted Boards of Trustees of state-interest institutions.

It is, therefore, not surprising that this column has sighted a petition addressed to the leadership of the Trades Union Congress of Ghana (TUC), for the withdrawal of two ‘unfit’ TUC nominees, appointed to represent Organised Labour on the boards of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).

Readers, the petition dated, 9th May, 2022, was directed to the Secretary General of the TUC and signed by Mr Seth Abloso, a Labour Consultant and a member of the Ghana Association of Certified Mediators and Arbitrators.

It was titled:”Petition for the withdrawal of unfit persons as representatives of Organised Labour on the Boards of Trustees of SSNIT and NPRA.”

The petition was copied to: (a) Member Unions of Organised Labour (b) the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (c) The Managing Director of GCB Bank LLC (d) the Chief Labour Officer (e) the Director General – SSNIT (f) the Chief Executive Officer – NPRA (g) the Executive Secretary – Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (h) the Executive Director – Ghana Integrity Initiative and the two “unfit persons”.

The petition reads:” I hereby petition you, in your capacity as convenor of Organised Labour, to take steps to have unfit persons who have been presented as representatives of Organised Labour on the Board of Trustees of SSNIT, as well as the Board of NPRA, withdrawn forthwith.

“They are, John Senanu Amagashie, General Secretary of the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF) and Alex Nyarku-Opoku, who doubles as National Chairman of UNICOF and a Manager of the Burma Camp branch of GCB Bank LLC.”

It must be noted that Mr Nyarku-Opoku is also the Chairman of the General Council of the TUC.

According to the petition:”Available evidence indicates that the two persons mentioned above have been involved in acts of dishonesty, by lying under oath in the execution of Credit Facility Agreement between UNICOF  and GCB Bank LLC, dated 12th May,  2020.”

The petition said: “An earlier ruling of the National Labour Commission (NLC) dated 2nd June 2017, which was subsequently affirmed by the High Court on 24th June 2019 in Suit No. MSIL/03/2019, had implications on the finances of UNICOF, besides the finding that Alex Nyarku-Opoku committed perjury.”

The petition reminded the TUC boss: “You would recall that I brought the 2nd June, 2017, ruling to your attention in a letter dated 14th February 2020.

“It comes as a surprise that notwithstanding the adverse findings in the ruling of the NLC, those identified as having been associated with practices that make them unfit to hold office, continue  in utter contempt of the NLC and go on to commit further acts of dishonesty in the Agreement with GCB Bank LLC.”

The petition strongly added: “It should be instructive to draw your attention to Section 177 of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992) – RESTRAINING FRAUDULENT PERSONS FROM MANAGING COMPANIES – and in particular to 177(1)(c) where a person has been culpable of a criminal offence, whether convicted or not, in relation to a body corporate or of fraud, or in breach of duty in relation to a body corporate, he or she shall not be a Director of or in any way, whether directly or indirectly , be concerned or take part in the management of a Company……”

According to the petition, “these developments and matters arising, there from, can neither be swept under the carpet nor ignored.

“It is, therefore, my expectation that you will take steps towards sanitising the frontline of Organised Labour to ensure that its affairs as well as the affairs of associated institutions are conducted with a high sense of integrity.”

So, in effect, the petition is asking the TUC leadership to replace the two “unfit” TUC nominees on SSNIT and NPRA Boards with new nominees who are “fit” to represent Organised Labour on the two boards.

Readers, the contention is that of the four TUC nominees on the Board of SSNIT representing Organised Labour, the petition is asking the TUC to withdraw only Mr Amagashie because the petition says, he is “unfit” to be appointed to the board.

Wikipedia defines ‘unfit’ as a thing or person not of the necessary quality to meet a particular purpose.

Synonyms for “unfit” include; unsuitable for, unsuited to, inappropriate to, ill-suited to, not good enough for, not cut out for and not up to scratch.

Readers, from the petition, the indication is that there are many and many workers who are “fit” and from which the TUC could effortlessly nominate to represent Organised Labour on relevant Boards of Trustees but the TUC ‘decided’ to nominate the two ‘highprofile’ but “unfit” persons to the boards of SSNIT and NPRA.

As we await the response to the petition from the leadership of the TUC, this column urgently urges the appropriate state institutions to investigate the matter as set out in the petition.

The outcome of the investigation, in the view of this column, must be published for public consumption.

This is because crucial matters concerning Organised Labour and its related institutions must be ‘mirrored’ in ‘a national glass’.

By G. Frank Asmah

Contact email/ WhatsApp of the author:

asmahfrankg@gmail.com (0505556179)