By Kodjo Adams , GNA
Accra, Aug. 14, GNA – The Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) has given Government until Aug. 31 to pay salaries and allowances owed members on approved post-retirement contracts.
The Association said some affected staff had gone unpaid for several months, with some cases exceeding 24 months, despite continuing to teach, supervise academic work and provide other professional services.
Professor Deodat E. Adenutsi, President of TUTAG, said at a press briefing in Accra on Friday that the matter required coordinated action by relevant state institutions and technical university managements.
He said the post-retirement contracts were approved by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) on behalf of Government and that the affected staff had fulfilled their contractual obligations.
“They cannot continue indefinitely to provide professional services without receiving salaries legitimately due them,” he stressed.
Prof. Adenutsi said TUTAG was demanding that GTEC, in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Finance, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department and technical university managements, immediately validate all affected staff.
He also demanded full payment of outstanding salaries and legitimate allowances and the removal of administrative and institutional impediments delaying payment.
“We have already engaged several key institutions, including the Director-General of GTEC, the Minister of Education, officials responsible for tertiary education at the Ministry of Education, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, and the National Labour Commission,” Prof. Adenutsi said.
He said those engagements followed efforts at the institutional level and culminated in discussions with relevant state institutions on July 7, 2026, to find a resolution to the matter.
Prof. Adenutsi said the Association was concerned about what it described as an attempt by GTEC to redirect the matter to individual technical universities, despite previous efforts to resolve it through the appropriate administrative channels.
He warned that continued delays could affect academic activities at the technical universities.
“Some affected members had expressed their intention to withdraw from activities including the marking and grading of examinations, release of examination results, supervision of dissertations and project work, and other responsibilities associated with their contracts,” he said.
Prof. Adenutsi also raised concerns over what the Association described as a unilateral alteration of the 2021 Scheme of Service concerning the promotion or redesignation of assistant lecturers.
He said the 2021 Scheme required an assistant lecturer to obtain a PhD and provide evidence of publication before being redesignated as a lecturer.
Prof. Adenuts said a subsequent directive had changed the requirement by making PhD completion and the establishment of publication requirements the basis for qualification for
redesignation, without adequate engagement with the Association.
He said the Association considered the directive a violation of the agreed Scheme of Service and called for consultation on issues affecting the careers and welfare of its members.
Prof. Adenutsi also expressed concern about a directive concerning the political participation of technical university staff.
He said while TUTAG did not challenge GTEC’s regulatory mandate, matters of such significance should involve meaningful consultation with recognised associations representing staff of public technical universities.
TUTAG has directed its members to wear red from Aug. 14 to 31 as a demonstration of their concern over the outstanding payments.
Prof. Adenutsi said the Association’s approach remained peaceful and collaborative, but its restraint should not be interpreted as weakness or surrender.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Kodjo Adams