Angel Carbonu, President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), claims that during his State of the Nation address to Parliament, President Akufo-Addo failed to highlight the government’s plans to alleviate the suffering of organized labor.
Although the president fulfilled his constitutional obligation to deliver the national address, he claimed that the message fell short of announcing plans to address the high cost of living.
He told Eyewitness News that the address did not reflect his personal reality, which included his inability to purchase goods and services due to the country’s high cost of living.
My reality now is the dire economic situation that is affecting me, and I am not able to buy goods and services, while my cedi has depreciated and life is becoming very difficult,” he said.
“I was expecting that the president, having recognized the fact that the economic situation is very dire and having serious consequences on the individual, will inform us, workers in the country, specifically teachers, that these are the strategies that have been put in place to ameliorate the challenges that are afflicting us,” he added.
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While delivering the State of the Nation address on Wednesday, President Akufo-Addo said his government is aware of the many economic challenges facing Ghanaians and is working to address them.
“I know that there is a general sense of anxiety in our nation at the moment. The Ghanaian people are anxious about the economy, cost of living, income levels, jobs for young people and issues that we all thought that we had achieved national consensus on… We are aware that we are in difficult times, and we are addressing the situation. The belt-tightening measures being set for members of the Executive have been elaborated within this context,” he said.
But according to Mr. Carbonu, the President should have considered the plight of organised labour, and made a definite pronouncement to the effect that it would engage organised labour to review their salaries to reflect the challenges of the economy.
“I was expecting an announcement that government is committed to negotiating with organized labour on salaries that will be coterminous with the economic situation that we find ourselves… I did not hear that, and I am disappointed in that aspect,” he said.
