King James Azortibah, the General Secretary of the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU) of Trade Union Congress (TUC)-Ghana, says the Union remains the legitimate governing council representatives of public universities.
He said the Public Universities Act and the statutes governing the institutions clearly designated TEWU of TUC as the representative union for specific staff categories.
King Azortibah said this at a press briefing in Accra to set the records surrounding TEWU of TUC representation on the Governing Councils of the public Universities.
He said TEWU of TUC had been in existence, especially in the public Universities in Ghana, for 58 years and that Ghanaians who had passed through the corridors of the Universities could attest to that fact.
King Azortibah said about three years ago, some colleagues who were executives of TEWU of TUC decided to break away and formed TEWU-Gh.

The reason, he alleged, was that they had served their two terms of four years’ tenure (in total, eight years) but still wanted to hold on as local executives even though the TEWU Constitution frowned upon such acts.
He said their actions created unnecessary tension, particularly on Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University for Development Studies campuses.
“As a responsible Union, we have pursued legal recourse where necessary, with some court decisions favouring us.
Unfortunately, interventions by the Secretary General of TUC to resolve the matter amicably have been unsuccessful,” he said.
The KNUST branch of TEWU-GH, on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, declared an indefinite strike in protest against exclusion from the university’s governing council.
The dispute was triggered by the nomination of a representative of TEWU-TUC, a rival group of TEWU-GH on the governing council of KNUST.
King Azortibah commended President Mahama and Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Education, for abiding by the rule of law and recognising that TEWU of TUC was the rightful representative on the Governing Councils of the various public Universities.
He said the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) wrote to the public universities to hold on to the representatives of TEWU-TUC until they resolve the issue in a meeting scheduled for May 16.
King Azortibah urged GTEC to remain objective and neutral and respect the rule of law in the matter.
“As a regulator, we expect GTEC to advise the university managements to instil discipline in the staff who take the law into their hands to misbehave and embark on unnecessary and illegal strikes,” he said.
Mr Joshua Ansah, the Secretary General of the Ghana Trade Union Congress, said the leadership of TUC supported the representative of TEWU-TUC on the governing council of public universities in the country.
He said TUC would resist any attempt to undermine the authority of the President, adding that TUC was championing the review of the Labour Act to address issues on the labour front.