Government charged to restrain soldiers at Goldfields Ghana Limited
The Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) has charged government to as a matter of urgency restrain military officers currently stationed at Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL) Tarkwa Mine.
According to the union, the presence of the soldiers at the mine’s site was extremely intimidating in this 21st century.
The GMWU said it was reliably informed that some of the military officers even disguised themselves and put on the company’s uniform to monitor the activities of the workers there.
Addressing the media at a press briefing at Nzemaline, a suburb of Tarkwa, to explain why GMWU had appealed against the ruling by an Accra High court dismissing an injunction application filed by some staff of GGL over the dismissal of about 2,300 workers of the company, the Deputy General Secretary of the union, Mr. Abdul Moomin Gbana, explained that the ruling did not mean Goldfields should abuse the fundamental rights of workers.
Present at the press conference were the National Chairman of GMWU, Mr Kwaku Gyakari, General Secretary, Mr. Prince William Ankrah and other dignitaries.
Mr Gbana said the military was directly under the President of the Republic and nobody could act without recourse to the President, adding, “Are we tempted to believe that the President is in the known of what is going on, on the ground?”, he stressed.
The Deputy General Secretary noted that the relationship between GMWU and Goldfields had not come to an end, but the way and manner the mining firm and its management were conducting themselves on this issue was not the best.
He indicated that if the Appeals Court on March 14, 2018, decide to uphold, the party would be obliged to respect that accordingly.
Mr Gbana said presently there was a stay of execution and the union expects parties to respect that as such.
For his part, the National Chairman, Mr Kwaku Gyakari, said he had appealed to the President to call Goldfields to order and make sure they did the right thing.
Mr Gyakari further asked that they should withdraw all the letters they served on the workers because they had already served on them a motion of stay of execution so it was legally wrong for them to go ahead and issue these letters.
The National Chairman pointed out that they would meet all the members of the National Executive Council of the GMWU, which is the highest decision making body of the union to enable them take a concrete decision on what is happening in the mining industry.
The union over the weekend organised a rally at Green Compound in Tarkwa to educate workers on the court ruling.
Source: GNA