Workers of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) have initiated a nationwide strike, effective today, to protest the implementation of the National Roads Authority Act, 2024 (Act 111) and call for urgent reforms.
The strike, organised by the Union and Senior Staff Association of the GHA, follows the lack of response from the government to a petition submitted on October 21, 2024.
The strike notice, which was widely distributed to media outlets, outlines key demands, including a halt to the National Roads Authority Act, 2024, until further consultation with stakeholders, especially GHA workers.
The Act, workers argue, threatens the autonomy of the GHA by positioning it as a division within a larger National Roads Authority.
GHA employees have voiced concerns that the new structure will increase bureaucracy, weaken institutional efficiency and worsen conditions for staff.
In addition to suspending the Act, the union is calling for the revocation of recent appointments made under it, alleging that these appointments violate Article 195 of the 1992 Constitution, which mandates the President to appoint public officers based on the advice of the governing board and in consultation with the Public Services Commission.
According to the union, these appointments bypassed this legal requirement, rendering them invalid.
The workers’ demands also include agency-wide consultations aligned with the World Bank-funded Diagnostic Study for Transforming Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), 2022, which outlined recommendations for institutional reforms.
The study emphasised the need for a more autonomous GHA to drive operational efficiency within the Ministry of Roads and Highways, rather than further integrating it into a broader agency.
The GHA union also seeks the immediate removal of Board Chairman Ing. I.K. Mensah and Chief Executive Ing. Collins B. Donkor, accusing them of disregarding staff input during the drafting and enactment of the National Roads Authority Act.
The union alleges that both officials were instrumental in pushing for the act’s implementation without adequate structural, technical, or human capital preparations, including essential consultations with human resource and change management experts.
This action comes after a staff durbar held on October 16, where GHA workers unanimously voiced their opposition to the act. According to workers, the current structure proposed under the act undermines GHA’s mission, reducing it to a subdivision rather than enhancing its efficiency and autonomy.
