Be abreast of local govt laws - MMDAs told

The General Secretary of the Local Government Workers’ Union (LGWU), Mr Joe Boahen, has entreated all employees at the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and other decentralised public service agencies to acquaint themselves with the Local Government Service Act, 2003, Act 656.

The objective of the Local Government Service is to secure the effective administration and management of local government in the country.

Mr Boahen said thorough knowledge of the provisions of Act 656 would enable the staff members of the MMDAs to appreciate their rights and responsibilities as people in the frontline, to lead the government’s effort in deepening grass-roots governance through effective and efficient decentralisation programmes.

The LGWU General Secretary said this at a sensitisation forum in Tema, attended by more than 120 staff members of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly. 

It formed part of a nationwide sensitisation programme by the national leadership of the LGWU in collaboration with the union’s regional industrial relations officers, to get employees of the MMDAs informed about the provisions of Act 656 of 2003, their Conditions of Service and the second-tier pension fund management. 

Mr Boahen asserted, “As a union, we were instrumental in proposing the creation of the Local Government Service, and we are privileged to be represented on the Governing Council of the Service. So we have the right to undertake programmes that will enable employees to understand the provisions of Act 656. ” 

The sensitisation forum is, therefore, one of the steps being taken to get the employees to be conversant with Act 656 and appreciate the fact that it is  LGWU that has the mandate to negotiate collective agreement for MMDAs employees,” he added.