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The Tamale office of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) has been closed indefinitely following an attack on the office by some irate youth.
Some youth believed to be members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, attacked the Northern Regional office of the GHA, where they were said to have assaulted some staff of the institution over the award of road contracts to persons said to be members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The National Chairman of the Senior Staff Association (SSA) of the GHA, Mr. Osward A. Amanfo told Graphic Online in an interview that they have decided to close the Tamale office as part of measures to ensure the safety of workers of the GHA in the region.
He said the action was jointly taken by the SSA and the Construction and Building Materials Workers Union (CBMWU) of the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
According to him, the safety of their workers was not assured, and that staying at home was the best option for the workers in order to prevent any likely attack on them again.
“I was very sad and disappointed when I heard about the attack on the Tamale office last week and although we have presented press releases calling on the security in the region to bring the perpetrators to book, no action has been taken so far. We have been told by some of the workers that the attackers have promised to come back again very soon,” he said.
Mr. Amanfo said until the security of the workers are assured; no worker will be allowed to put his or her life at risk.
“We are currently in Accra for an emergency meeting on this attack and we hope to find out what our next action would be after the end of the meeting,” he added
When Graphic Online visited the Tamale office Monday, it was an empty building with only two security personnel at post.
The main entrance of the institution had been locked with red flags hoisted on the gates.
The inscription, “Office Closed” was boldly written on a board hanging on the gate.
A staff who spoke on condition of anonymity said the attackers prior to coming there last week had visited them twice to warn them of how they (attackers) did not like how operations at the institution were handled.
He said the attack had instilled fear and panic in the staff, adding that they were no longer safe at work since they did not know when the next attack would come.
