The Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG) has welcomed the Government’s decision to withdraw the appointment of the new Registrar of Births and Deaths.
The Association declared an industrial action effective Thursday, February 20, 2025, over the appointment of Mr Samuel Adom Botchway as Acting Registrar of the Birth and Deaths Registry, describing him as a “politically exposed person.”
The Government on Friday said it would reassign Mr Botchway in the “truest spirit of cooperation and understanding” to avert the intended strike.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Edmund Acquaye, Public Relations Officer, CLOGASAG, said the Government’s decision was “a step in the right direction.”
“We expect the Government to act in good faith and not repeat the mistakes,” he said, adding “those positions are for civil servants.”
The Association said it would convene a National Executive Council meeting to reconsider the industrial action after receiving a formal communication from the Government to that effect.
The CLOGSAG had argued that the appointment of Mr Botchway violated a 2017 Supreme Court Ruling on neutrality of the Civil and Local Government Service which barred politicians from meddling in the administration of the service.
Delivering a statement at a durbar at the Birth and Death Registry in Accra last Friday, Mr Kojo Krakani, the Deputy Executive Secretary, CLOGSAG, said the appointments of persons who are known activists of political parties would undermine the neutrality of the service.
“Samuel Adom Botchway is a known activist of the National Democratic Congress and was once the District Chief Executive for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa in the Central Region,” he said.
In 2022, the CLOGSAG kicked against the appointment of Mrs Henrietta Lamptey as Registrar of the Births and Deaths.
The Association argued at the time that the appointment process was at variance with normal practice.
The Association subsequently filed a suit at the High Court challenging the appointment.
Among the reliefs sought by CLOGSAG was a declaration that “the Births and Deaths Registry is a Civil Service Institution,” and further or in the alternative, a declaration that the Head of Civil Service, “must have an input in the appointment of the Registrar of the Births and Deaths as provided by law.”
The Court is yet to deliver judgment on the case.