Coalition of Unpaid 2023 Teachers Stage Demonstration, Petition Northern Regional Minister

The Coalition of Unpaid Teachers from the 2023 cohort in the Northern Region has staged a peaceful demonstration to petition the Northern Regional Minister, Ali Adolf John, to intervene in what they describe as a grave professional and financial injustice regarding their salaries and the issuance of Staff IDs.

According to the group, despite several engagements and petitions to the appropriate education authorities, their situation has worsened—especially following remarks made by the Regional Director of Education on Sagani TV, suggesting that their appointment letters were fake.

The teachers say about 250 teachers in the Northern Region and about 400 nationwide have been affected, although they have been working continuously for more than 25 months without pay.

The demonstration started from the Jubilee Park and proceeded through the Northern Regional Coordinating Council before ending at the office of the Regional Minister.

The group insists their appointments are legitimate, explaining that due process was followed in securing their appointment letters, regional postings, and duly signed assumption of duty letters from various institutions. They added that they have never been instructed—officially or otherwise—to stop work, and efforts to seek redress through a petition to the Regional Director of Education have yielded no results.

They referenced a revocation letter dated 17th February 2025 with reference number GES/HRMD/SEC/REV.25/01, which they said targeted appointments made after the 7th December 2024 elections. The petitioners argued that, because their appointments date back to 2023, they should not have been affected by that directive.

The teachers also cited a reinstatement letter dated 5th March 2025 with reference number GES/DG/247/25/ED056, stating that the reinstatement directive equally did not apply to their cohort.

As part of their proposed solutions, the group referred to a precedent set by the Ghana Education Service headquarters in a letter dated 12th December 2025 (ref: GES/HQ/PR/25/115) which, they said, facilitated the onboarding of the 2024 cohort through the issuance of new appointment letters. They stressed that they are willing to accept fresh appointment letters if that will resolve the technical challenges preventing their Staff IDs from being generated.

Quoting from their petition, a representative of the group stated:

“Despite our dedicated service of over 25 months, the Regional Education Director recently stated on Sagani TV that our appointments are ‘fake’. We vehemently reject this claim. Our legitimacy is grounded in due protocols we followed in securing our appointments, the formal documents we possess, and the fact that we have been working consistently without any directive to stop.

Our cohort has been unfairly caught in administrative confusion regarding recent appointment revocations, and we wish to clarify with the following citations:
A mass revocation letter dated 17th February 2025 referenced GES/HRMD/SEC/REV.25/01—issued per a directive from the Chief of Staff—covered appointments made after the 7th December 2024 elections, placing us outside its scope. Therefore, the reinstatement letter dated 5th March 2025 did not apply to us.”

Receiving the petition on behalf of the Regional Minister, the Chief Director assured the demonstrators that their concerns would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities.

“When he comes, I will hand over the petition to him. I assure you that we will forward it to the appropriate authorities to deal with the issues you have raised,” he said.

Source:Fiilafmonline/Walkiyatu Issahaku