When the law becomes an ass

By Kofi Akordor
I am wondering what those who are virtually catered for fully at state expense will feel, if, for more than three months, they have not been paid their official salaries. They have immediate families, distant relatives, friends and former school mates who have not been so successful to cater for. It will be very embarrassing, if any time the minister or district chief executive is called upon to respond to his mandatory and voluntary responsibilities, he ends up saying he was unable to do so because he had not been paid. There will be many who will not believe him, accusing him variously of being irresponsible, stingy, ungrateful or plain wicked.
As for those commonly called foot soldiers that helped you in attaining your political ambitions, they will begin to curse you for wasting their time, taking undue advantage of them and ending with a resolute pledge not to be part of your next campaign.
I am talking about political holders and other top public officials, who, apart from their official salaries or declared incomes, have several other ways of making ends meet. So if these people could find themselves in such a vulnerable situation, what about ordinary people such as the railway workers of the Ghana Railways Company (GRC), who for more than three months including the month of December have not received their meager salaries? December is one month that no matter how bad the economy was or how poorly one had performed in his/her pursuits in the year, the children must smile and friends should celebrate. But it came to pass that railway workers forfeited the opportunity to observe this annual ritual.
The problem of the railway workers started as little grumblings about salary arrears. Management responded by saying the company is cash-strapped and that efforts were being made to raise funds to pay the workers.
The question is; did the company become cash-strapped because the workers failed to work, performed poorly or those placed at helm of affairs did not exhibit business acumen and managerial competence? Whatever the case, the railway workers were at post; they went about their duties as demanded from them by the company and, therefore, deserve their wages. As frustration and desperation set in, the workers decided to withdraw their services, first for a limited period to draw public attention to their plight.
While the impasse dragged, there were a lot of behind-the-scene skirmishes at the departmental and ministerial levels to bring the dispute under control. There were assurances that the government was trying to raise funds to settle salary arrears of the workers while other demands such as salary increases and management problems were addressed. The workers then said: ?We are ready for negotiation but pay us first our arrears.? Management and government officials on the hand wanted the workers to go back to work before the arrears could be paid.
To many fair-minded people, the management and government were not treating workers fairly. At least they were expecting that the arrears for the period under contention will be paid while other matters continued to be discussed. So to behave as if the workers were demanding salary advance was to overstretch the matter too far.
While some may wonder why ordinary railway workers should hold a nation to ransom, the management came out with revealing information. That, for every month that the railway workers were not on duty, the company lost US$900,000! If this information was to expose the railway workers as wicked and inconsiderate, it also brought to question, the managerial competence of the Ghana Railway Company. It also strengthened the case for the workers. If they could generate so much for the company every month through their toil and sweat, why can?t they be paid their meagre salaries?
While the verbal assaults of the parties were raging, the intervention of the National Labour Commission (NLC) was seen as welcome news. The attention of the NLC was, however, focused on the workers and the role of the management in the dispute was not brought into question. However, Mr. Austin Gamey, a leading conflict resolution expert and experienced person on labour issues did not colour his words. He said the management of GRC should bear the blame for not taking a proactive, strategic and bold decision at the right time when they saw the fortunes of the company dwindling. To him, therefore, the workers were making a legitimate demand and should not, therefore, suffer from the consequences of managerial lapses.
The NLC added fuel to an already volatile situation, when it mistakenly thought in such matters, legal threats are the best option by threatening the railway workers to court to compel them to go back to work. That was a bad move. Not that it made any impression on the striking workers any way. It rather infuriated them, compelling them to take a more militant position.
Mr. Gamey may not be alone in his assessment of the situation and his verdict. Many Ghanaians, if confronted with the subject are more than likely to share Mr. Gamey?s opinion. For far too long, workers have been made to face the brunt of managerial incompetence. People who do not deserve to call themselves managers, have found their way into managerial seats and ran down their organizations for as along as their patrons will allow them.
All our state institutions are collapsing before our eyes, not because Ghanaians cannot run their own affairs. The basic truth is that the wrong people are always the smartest when it comes to lobbying for big posts in the country. The few times that the good ones get there, they do not last because they will not want to play ball.
We should not be surprised to wake up tomorrow to hear that a foreign consultancy has been contracted to run the affairs of Ghana Railway Company. Ghana Airways is gone; Ghana Water Company and Ghana Telecommunications are struggling under foreign consultants. How many more are left to go?