Organised Labour has firmly refuted allegations that its leadership was financially influenced by the government following the decision to call off a planned nationwide strike, which had been scheduled for October 10.
The strike was intended to protest the government’s perceived inaction in addressing illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
Critics, however, accused Organised Labour of accepting bribes in exchange for cancelling the strike. In response, King Ali Awudu, president of the Coalition of Concern Teachers (CCT) and a key member of Organised Labour, dismissed these accusations as baseless and unfounded.
Awudu emphasised that Organised Labour’s actions had already led to significant progress, compelling the government to take concrete steps. He highlighted that the government, within a month, committed to revoking the Legislative Instrument (LI) that permits mining in forest reserves.
He also stressed that the decision to call off the strike was based on the tangible results of their negotiations, not any form of financial influence.
“Whenever somebody is of a certain opinion, and another has a dissenting opinion the easy thing some people in this country would do is to accuse you of going to A or B. But mind you, so many organisations in this country have threatened to do certain things about galamsey but the government never mind them, including the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
“Since December 2023, they have issued notices to the government to revoke the LI that allows mining in forest reserves, but the government has never minded them.
“Organised Labour comes in and in less than a month, the government has issued the directives for the LI to be revoked. This is what we want. It is being achieved. Why do we go on strike?” he asked.