UTAG Strike: 'Watch Your Words!'; Stop Making Loose Statements - Lecturer To Fair Wages PRO

Governance Lecturer at the Central University, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, has sent a stern warning to a Public Relations Officer of the Fair Wages Commission to refrain from making loose statements.

Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' regarding the teacher unions' strikes, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah alluded to some comments purportedly made by the Head of Public Affairs for the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Earl Ankrah.

According to him, this PRO told the teachers that if they feel their salaries are small, so cannot commit themselves to their job, they should quit it.

Mr Ankrah is reported to have told members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) that they cannot continue striking while negotiations are underway.

According to some media reports citing an interview he granted 3FM, whiles calling on them to return to the lecture halls saying “you cannot negotiate while you are on strike so they must call off the strike before they can engage," he asked aggrieved Labour Unions to resign if they were not satisfied with their conditions of service.

The FWSC subsequently waded into the fray clarifying that Earl Ankrah’s words were taken out of context.

The Commission in a press release indicated that Mr Ankrah’s comment “was not in direct reference to UTAG. In effect, responses to two different questions were mischievously treated as one.”

But it appears Dr. Otchere-Ankrah was unaware of the FWSC's response and scathingly admonished Mr Ankrah to learn how to communicate properly.

''There's one man at the Fair Wages Commission, I think it's their PRO. He should learn how to talk because, sometimes, it's your utterances that will irritate someone. If indeed he said that if you think your salary is not good, then stop your work; you can't talk like that. If you do a private business, you can say whatever you want but if it's the government's money you are taking . . . he should watch his words!'', he cautioned.