TEWU-TUC has right to be represented on university councils — GTEC
The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has resolved that the Teachers and Educational Workers Union of the Trades Union Congress (TEWU-TUC) has the right to have representation on the governing councils of the traditional public universities.
As a result, the commission has requested that the various traditional universities take steps to swear in representatives of TEWU-TUC as members of the governing councils and accord them all the necessary privileges associated with that office.
“The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission engaged with the Tertiary Education Workers Union (TEWU-GH) and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU-TUC), a number of occasions over concerns as to who had the rightful representation on university councils.
"After some consultations and legal advice to the commission, it has been decided that the Teachers' and Educational Workers' Union (TEWU-TUC) has the rightful representation on the governing councils of the traditional universities,” a statement dated June 18, 2025, and signed by the Director General of GTEC, Prof. Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor, said.
TEWU-GH
Consequently, it directed members of TEWU-GH not to hold themselves as members of the governing councils of the traditional universities, even if sworn in earlier.
The commission expressed the hope that the directive would bring finality to the impasse.
"We count on your usual cooperation," it said.
The letter was copied to the Minister of Education, Chairman of Vice-Chancellors Ghana, as well as the chairmen of both TEWU-TUC and TEWU-GH.
The latest directive clarifies the commission’s position, and it is expected to guide future appointments and engagements.
Responding to the development, the General Secretary of TEWU-TUC, King James Azortibah, thanked the GTEC for the development.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank all members of the TEWU nationwide, and especially our members in the public universities and the public technical universities.
“Yes, the statement from the GTEC is a statement that we have been waiting for and expecting for a very long time.
Truth is truth; and truth, we all know, is one. Nobody can tell the truth.
Moreover, when the truth is enacted in a law, written, nobody can convert it,” he said.
He said the union had written a series of letters to the Minister of Education and Prof. Jinapor, pointing out to them the right thing to do.
Mr Azortibah said at the last meeting, the Director-General of GTEC said the country was in a democratic era and that there was a need for the rule of law to prevail and that nobody took it (law) into their hands.
“We have our documents to prove that we are a union. We have been registered and practising as a trade union under one of the strongest affiliates of the country, the Trade Union Congress, that everybody knows,” he said.
Caution
The TEWU General Secretary commended Prof. Jinapor for being humble enough to know that, “yes, the law is supreme and that nobody is above it”.
Asked how the news was received, Mr Azortibah said it came with great excitement.
“We want to thank the Minister of Education. We want to thank the Director General of the GTEC.
We want to thank all the vice chancellors who have been patiently waiting for the outcome of this decision.
“Because they themselves knew that it was the right decision to take, but they were respecting the law and the rule of law and order. And so, we want to say that they should stay calm,” he said.
Members of TEWU-TUC, he said, would continue to contribute their quota to national development by giving their services for quality and peaceful educational space in the public universities.
