State Attorneys threaten to withdraw services

Attorneys ranging from the rank of Assistant to Principal State Attorney within the Legal Service, have threatened to embark on a nation-wide strike on August 15, to back their demand for better service conditions.

A source at the Attorney-General's (A-G's) Department told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra that the decision was taken by members of the Association of State Attorneys (ASA) at a general meeting in Accra on August 2.

The source said a copy of members' petition has been forwarded to the Minister of Justice and A-G, and that if by the close of work tomorrow August 14, there was no positive response, members would have no alternative than to withdraw their services.

The source said at the height of members' agitation for improved service conditions last year, they rejected the levels proposed in the report of the Appellate Board of the Central Management Board (CMB), because those levels failed to satisfy the requirements of the Law, particularly section four of the Legal Service Law, 1993, PNDCL 320.

The source said another ground for the rejection was that PNDCL 320 was implemented to favour those with the rank of Chief State Attorneys and above, who like Attorneys of the rank of Principal State Attorneys and below, are members of the Legal Service.

The ASA viewed with serious concern the reference of the matter to the CMB at this stage when "our clarion call is for the full implementation of PNDCL 320 and not re-negotiation of new salary levels."

Members' stand was that if negotiations were to re-open at all, they should start from the point where the Appellate Board left off, the source added.