A Labour Court has ordered the reinstatement of 26 employees of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) who were dismissed shortly after the appointment of its Director-General, Dr Kamal-Deen Ali and imposed a financial penalty of GH¢310,000 against the Authority.

The ruling, delivered at the Labour Division of the High Court and adopted as a consent judgment in Suit No. IL/0089/2025, follows legal action initiated by the affected staff, led by senior officer Ronald Enyan.

The employees had challenged what they described as wrongful and procedurally flawed terminations.

Under the terms of the court-supervised settlement, the 26 workers are to be reinstated to the exact positions and ranks they held prior to their dismissal.

The Authority is barred from demoting them and any interviews required as part of their return must be strictly administrative and cannot be used as grounds to deny reinstatement.

The reinstatement is to take effect from February 1, 2026, after completion of onboarding processes.

In addition to restoring their employment, the GMA is required to pay compensation to each affected staff member and cover their legal costs, alongside the GH¢310,000 penalty.

The settlement further protects the reinstated employees from victimisation, including any dismissal or layoff during a probationary period following their re-engagement.

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Dr Ali, who assumed office on January 28, 2025, terminated the appointments of 26 general staff and approximately eight directors shortly after taking over the Authority.

The move followed a directive issued on February 10, 2025, by Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, instructing heads of public institutions to annul appointments and recruitments made after December 7, 2024.

However, several of the affected GMA employees maintained that they were engaged well before the cut-off date, with some employed as early as January 2024.

According to accounts from some of the dismissed workers at the time, their appointments were revoked without hearings or prior notice.

Faced with a full trial, both parties entered negotiations that culminated in the court-endorsed settlement.

AM

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