Members of the Coalition of Unposted Veterinary Technicians who picketed the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) on Tuesday over the government’s failure to give them financial clearance to begin work refused to return home despite an assurance by the ministry to get the mishap resolved.
For the past six years, more than 500 students who completed their course of study have not been posted and all efforts to get the government to post them had proven futile.
After a crunch meeting between the ministry and executives of the aggrieved group, it emerged that the challenge was as a result of a moratorium on employment in the public service but due to how key the role of the veterinary technician is, a special case will be presented to cabinet to lift the embargo.
Public Relations Officer for the ministry, Bagbara Tanko, told Ghanaweb.com the outfit will seek clearance to employ over 640 people under various categories but stressed that timelines cannot be given since the authority lies with the Ministry of Finance.
“…the ministry is concerned that this group of technical hands are still at home without jobs. We just ended our sector review meeting and Hon. Afriyie Akoto actually lamented over the lack of staff for the sector and promised to make a special case to cabinet to ensure that cabinet gives approval for financial clearance so the sector can employ to enable us meet our target. So based on this, the agreement we reached with the leadership was that they should go and be patient with us. We have shown them the efforts we have made to the Ministry of Finance, the letters and follow ups to seek financial clearance to employ them. We have pleaded with them…” he said, adding that the concerns of the group was legitimate.
The group however lamented that the same story was told any time they protested. They consequently refused to return home until they are employed.
