Prisons officers' demonstration was illegal - Deputy Minister

Accra, Sept. 15, GNA - Government on Wednesday condemned the industrial action embarked upon by a detachment of the Prison Service describing it as "a violation of rules of engagement for security personnel".

Mr. James Kwadwo Agyenim Boateng, a Deputy Minister of Information, said: "By their conditions of engagement, the Prison Service, as well as other security establishments, is debarred from participating in demonstrations, industrial unrest and any unionist activities. "The action therefore by a section of personnel from Kumasi is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and their rules of engagement." The Deputy Minister was speaking at a press conference organised by the Ministry in collaboration with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.

He noted that the Ministry of the Interior, the Prisons Service Council and the National Security would institute immediate service enquiry into the incident and "all those involved in the illegal act would be made to face the full rigors of the law". Mr. Agyenim-Boateng advised security personnel to read carefully their rules of engagement, follow procedure for redress and avoid acts of destabilisation.

Some officers of the Kumasi Central Prison in Adum on Wednesday embarked on a demonstration in front of the Prison over alleged disparities in their salaries under the Single Spine Salary Structure. The Prison officers, wearing red arm bands abandoned their duty posts, locked up the Prisons and burned car tyres. They held placards with inscriptions; "Government, what is Single Spine?", "Pay us well", "Come again, this is cheating", "We are being cheated".

The Prison officers claimed that what their colleagues in the Ghana Police Service and Ghana National Fire Service were offered under the scheme was higher than what they have been offered. Some of the officers say the disparity in the salaries were so wide that low ranked policemen are receiving better salaries than their higher ranked Prison officers.