Pay striking teachers before expressway spending, Dr Kingsley Agyemang tells government
Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South and member of Parliament’s Education Committee, Kingsley Agyemang, has urged government to prioritise payments owed to teachers instead of committing funds to a proposed GH¢2 billion Accra–Kumasi Expressway project.
Dr Kingsley Agyemang, a Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South and member of Parliament’s Education Committee, has called on the government to prioritize paying teachers over funding a proposed Accra–Kumasi Expressway project. This plea comes during an ongoing indefinite strike by pre-tertiary teacher unions who are protesting over outstanding issues such as promotion-related payments, the Collective Agreement, and the Deprived Area Allowance.
The issue was discussed on Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, September 28, where Dr Agyemang reiterated that teachers deserve their due wages and demanded that the government demonstrate its financial capacity. "I cannot pay teachers what is due them. I wish to re-emphasise that it has nothing to do with technicality. The teacher is deserving of his wage.
They should pay them," he stated. Dr Agyemang questioned why teachers should not return to work while the government diverts substantial resources to other projects, specifically highlighting the reported GH¢2 billion allocated for the expressway project. He argued that if the funds are truly available, they should be directed towards resolving the teachers' concerns rather than funding the expressway.
Dr Agyemang called for transparency from the government regarding its financial constraints, stating that if the funds truly cannot be provided, the government should clearly communicate this to the teachers. He noted that repeated assurances from the government have eroded trust among the teachers. "They say that the promises have become one too many.
They have lost trust and confidence in the government. The government has deceived them several times. Therefore, they are not yielding," he said. Dr Agyemang emphasized that resolving the dispute is a matter that goes beyond the Education Ministry, as the government controls the purse strings. He urged the government to make the necessary resources available to settle the outstanding obligations to teachers.
Written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
