Business
ITF urges Ghana to invest in railway transport
Ghana has been urged to invest in railway transport as the best alternative means to support urban transportation in the country. Mr Joseph Katende, the Regional Secretary of the International Transport Workers (ITF), who is leading a two-member delegation on a visit to the Ghana National Coordinating Committee (NCC) of ITF, said the railway sector needs investment that would enable it to function as a reasonable urban transport.
He advised, “Our research indicates that there has not been real investment in the railway sector in Ghana for some time now –yet railway is a better option for transportation systems, especially for a country like Ghana which has high rate of road accidents”. He also pointed out that South Africa has embraced railway transportation and they are moving very fast with their transportation system giving the people the comfort they needed.
Mr Katende, together with Mr Bayla Sow, the ITF Representative for Africa Francophone and ECOWAS Region, visited the Ghana NCC to support the re-organisation of the Ghanaian branch of the NCC, which was revamped in January after long years of dormancy.
The Ghana NCC now has Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, General Secretary of Maritime and Dockworkers Union (MDC), as the Chairman, Mr Iddrisu Fuseini, General Secretary of General Transport Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU), as Coordinator and Mr Stephen Okudzeto, General Secretary of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) as the Treasurer.
Mr Katende explained that they were in the country to ensure that their “brothers in the transportation sector in Ghana” come on board the ITF, which has had strong roots in Ghana since the latter parts of 1960s to the early 1980s, when its first Africa headquarters was in Ghana. Currently, the Africa Headquarters of ITF is now in Kenya. However, some Ghanaian affiliate unions lost their membership with the ITF due to some leadership challenges.
The Ghana NCC of ITF used to be active members of the Federation with various transportation organisations like MDC, GTPCWU, GPRTU, National Union of Seamen (NUS), Railway Workers Union, and the Rail and Allied Transport Workers Union. Mr Katende said ITF, as a global trade union, exist to promote respect for trade union and human rights worldwide, to work for peace based on social justices and economic progress, help its affiliated unions defend the interest of their members and to provide general assistance to transport workers in difficulty.
Furthermore, he indicated, “The ITF, founded in July 1896 represents the interests of transport workers’ unions in bodies which take decisions affecting jobs, employment conditions or safety in the transport industry, such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).”
