Pressure group, Justice for Ghana, has petitioned Parliament to intervene to avert the threat of organized labour embarking on a sit-down strike following the government’s decision to include pension funds in the debt exchange programme.
According to the group, Ghanaians do not need haircuts but rather it is the government that needs to cut down its size to accommodate the debt restructuring it is embarking upon.
The group warned that failure to heed the demands of organized labour and Ghanaians could push the indefinite strike to an uprising.
This is contained in a petition that the pressure group presented to the Speaker of Parliament and received on his behalf by Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu and Second Deputy Majority Whip Habib Iddrisu on Wednesday 21st December 2022.
Presentation of the petition forms part of the picketing the group has embarked upon at the site of the National Cathedral and Parliament House.
The group outlined a list of demands that they are demanding the government to address to ameliorate the suffering of the Ghanaian people and stressed Ghana must not be allowed to come to a standstill due to the threat of an indefinite strike by organized labour.
The group demanded the removal of the increase on VAT and the removal of the e-levy threshold as announced in the 2023 budget by the Finance Minister.
“This means poor Ghanaians will get poorer by a direct government policy intervention. Ghanaians are opposed to these policies in the 2023 Budget and urge Parliament to vote against them.”
“We are demanding that the Cathedral Project is immediately stopped, all payments returned, and an investigation into its fundraising and potential financial loss and judgment debt.”
“We further demand the protection of pension funds and a freeze on VAT AND E-LEVY. Ghanaians are suffering excruciating hardships and do not need the scarce state funds accrued from taxing them to be used in funding fanciful frivolities that President Akufo Addo considers his priority of priorities”
“The government should also immediately review the status of all state-acquired lands and return same to the original owners, lands that t have not been used for the original purpose they were acquired. The Cathedral and the Cantonments Civil Aviation Land are classic examples that require immediate attention,” part of the statement read.”
Haruna Iddrisu who received the petition assured the demonstrators the Minority also shares some of their concerns including demands for pension funds to be exempted from the debt exchange.
The Minority, he said, is also demanding the Parliament be appraised with the full details of the content of the debt exchange, both domestic and external.
He assured his side will continue to fight on the e-levy and VAT increment to ensure whatever is arrived at is in the interest of the Ghanaian people.
In his remarks, Deputy Majority Whip Habib Iddrisu assured the House will definitely listen to the picketers especially as the matter on the Cathedral failed to go through at the committee level.
He commended the Minority for being sound in protecting state interest and keeping the Majority on its toes to ensure the democracy being craved for is achieved
“The concerns that you have expressed here, we will take them into consideration and we will not complain the demonstrations are too many,” he added.
