<<Print>>

PRESIDENT JOHN Evans Atta Mills has given the strongest indication of his resolve to protect the peace of Ghana before and after the December 7 crucial presidential and parliamentary elections. The president stated that the laws of the land would not be a respecter of status, warning that he would make the law to deal decisively with any person/persons who attempted to push the country into a state of anarchy. �As President of the Republic of Ghana, I will take all necessary constitutional steps to ensure the conduct of a free, fair and transparent election in 2012,� President Mills assured. President Mills was addressing hundreds of workers yesterday in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region during the 2012 national parade of the May Day celebrations. This year�s celebration, which was held in the Brong Ahafo Region for the first time, was under the theme, �Elections 2012: The Role of Workers in Securing Peaceful and Fair Elections�. According to the President, �It is the collective responsibility as a nation to ensure that the peace that we are enjoying today is not overturned by any event.� President Mills expressed his appreciation to labour for cooperating with his administration in maintaining the peace of the country through their maturity and forbearance in the pursuit of the rights of working people. �Let me assure you that we shall not abuse your forbearance but rather use it to quicken the pace in the delivery of your rewards,� he pointed out. Touching on his government�s efforts in enhancing the conditions of service for Ghanaian workers, President Mills said his administration had demonstrated its genuine concern for the protection of the interests of working people by implementing the Single Spine Pay Policy. He disclosed that 99.23% of public sector workers had been successfully migrated onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) and were now enjoying enhanced salaries. This, the President noted, had doubled government�s wage bill from GH�2.4billion to GH�5.6billion. President Mills indicated that his administration had taken a number of important steps in the past three years to enhance workers� interests within the framework of the tripartitism. Ghana, in 2011 alone, he stated, ratified the Convention on Minimum Age, 1973 (No. 138) which prohibits child labour: the Tripartite Consultation Convention, 1976 (No. 144) which encourages cooperation among government, employers and employees, as well as the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184) which also prohibits children from undertaking hazardous work. �This is historic for our country,� he said, adding, �With the ratification of these three ILO Conventions, Ghana has now met all the fundamental requirements of the International Labour Organisation and stands to receive substantial rewards from the international community in our efforts at achieving decent work for labour.� The President also stated that the three-tier pension scheme that, for the first time, accommodated the needs of those in the informal sector, was in place under the National Pensions Act, 2008. He said the new Act would provide pension benefits and ensure enhanced retirement income and security for workers when they were due. He stated the government had gone further to establish the National Pensions Regulatory Authority to oversee the administration and management of pensions schemes and related matters, adding, �The authority has completed the process of developing guidelines for the occupational pension scheme and the schemes should be fully operational by the end of 2012.� Among the highlights of the event was the march past by the various workers unions, numbering over 30, who carried placards carrying messages on what they wanted government to do improve their living conditions. One of the peace interest partners which took part in the celebrations, the Ghana Peace Campaign 2012, really drove its point home with messages from world leaders like Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela and UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, who are all asking for Ghana�s impending polls to be peaceful. The group bore banners from companies like Tullow Oil, MTN, GLO, Goldfields Ghana and some of the banks in the country with peace messages. The Communications Director of the Ghana Peace Campaign 2012, Kojo Frimpong, said without peace, nothing was guaranteed, adding that �peace now is everybody�s business�.