The Local Government Workers Union (LGWU) has urged staff of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to acquaint themselves with the Local Government Service Act, 2003 (Act 656).
A statement signed by Mr Joe Boahen, General Secretary of the LGWU, and copied to the Ghana News Agency at the weekend, said thorough knowledge of the provisions of Act 656 would enable the MMDAs and other decentralised Public Service Agencies to appreciate their rights and responsibilities as people leading government’s effort in deepening grassroots governance.
The objective of the Local Government Service is to secure the effective administration and management of local government in the country, it said.
The statement was issued after a sensitisation forum in Tema attended by more than 120 staff of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly.
The forum formed part of a nation-wide sensitisation programme to educate employees of the MMDAs about the provisions of Act 656 of 2003, their Conditions of Service and the Second Tier Pension Fund Management.
It said: “As a union, we were instrumental in proposing the creation of the Local Government Service and we are privileged to be represented on the Governing Council of the Service. So we have the right to undertake programmes that will enable employees to understand the provisions of Act 656.”
It said the lack of adequate knowledge of Act 656 had created an erroneous impression that there was another worker organisation instead of the Local Government Workers Union that had the mandate to champion conditions of service of MMDAs.
It emphasised that LGWU’s representation on the Governing Council of the Local Government Service had placed the union in a unique position to take every practical step to secure better conditions of service for MMDA staff and other workers of related decentralised agencies listed in Act 656.
The statement advised Ghanaian workers, particularly staff of MMDAs, not to wait until there were problems at the workplace before they acquainted themselves with the relevant laws like Act 656.
It said effective decentralisation required committed and results-oriented personnel who would initiate innovative ideas to advance grassroots governance.
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