Organised Labour in the Ashanti Region has wrapped up a meeting with the Ghana Police Service in Kumasi as they prepare for a planned demonstration on February 13.
The planned protest follows the government’s failure to withdraw the 15 percent Value-Added Tax (VAT) on domestic electricity, despite the demands made by the unions.
During the meeting, labour unions discussed their proposed routes and the scheduled date for the protest, addressing concerns raised by the police in a previous meeting.
Speaking to JoyNews, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Augustine Adongo, emphasized that they are not taking directives from the government and will not change their decision to demonstrate on the scheduled date.
According to him, the unions are taking directives from their leaders, and if the government waits until the night of Monday, February 12, to declare the withdrawal of the VAT implementation, it will be too late for the leadership of organized labor to direct them to withdraw the demonstration.
“We, in the regions, are prepared to ensure that we will pass through where the market women are – they are feeling it even more than us. We will pass there and then tell them that if the government is insensitive to their plight, we, in organized labor, care for them and will fight this fight till our last blood,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) says they are committed to demonstrating against the implementation of the 15 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity. He emphasized that the Union will not reconsider or change its decision until the government completely withdraws the VAT letter.
He urged all workers to join in the nationwide demonstration to express their displeasure with the government’s actions.
