Former president and Flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has stated that he cannot promise teachers an increment in salaries and improvement in their conditions of service if elected president in the upcoming December elections.
According to him, the current economy is a mess and as the future is unknown, he is unable to make any promises.
The former president was responding to calls from teacher unions to promise them salary increments and improvements in conditions of service if elected as president in the 2024 general election. Salary increments and better conditions of service are some of the issues that have come up during his nationwide Building Ghana Tour.
“Pre-tertiary teachers, you talked about conditions of service, I have said that the economy is in a big mess so I cannot promise everybody that we are going to increase your salaries,” he said.
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Mahama added that he is unlike the ruling government which made promises but did not deliver.
“But we have taken note of the difficulties pre-tertiary teachers are going through,” he assured the teachers.
Meanwhile, Angel Carbonu, President of the National Graduate Teachers Association (NAGRAT) is delighted the flagbearer has identified accommodation problems of teachers and has planned to resolve them.
“I am also happy the former president identified one major issue. That is accommodation for teachers. Accommodation is in two folds; the accommodation you need while you are working and the accommodation which should be your primary means of abode,” Mr Carbonu said.
He also stated that accommodation for teachers would help improve discipline in the schools.
“One thing about accommodation on campus is that it contributes largely to school discipline because once there is the presence of teachers in the school, students comport themselves,” he added.
Doctor Kwame Asah-Asante, a Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana also commended the NDC flagbearer’s stance and honesty on the issue.
q“That is the best you expect from a politician, we need honest leadership. You are coming to organise the affairs of the state, using all the resources given to you at our disposal so you need to be as honest as possible,” he said.
The NDC flagbearer is currently in the Northern region for his nationwide Building Ghana Tour.
