To celebrate the effective management of the first Gas infrastructure in Ghana, Ghana Gas Company launched the Ghana Gas Senior Staff Association Week in Accra on the 21st of July 2022. The Ghana Gas Senior Staff Association, GGSSA was birthed in 2019 when the Association received a certificate as a Trade Union Organization. The Association received its Collective Bargaining Certificate, from the Labour Department and will soon obtain its Collective Bargaining Agreement, CBA with the Management of the Company. The group was formed to push more Ghanaian Engineers into the Company, as it previously had more expatriates and to promote, improve, and defend the interest and labour rights and welfare of workers of Ghana Gas. The Association Week had the theme “Institutionalizing the Gas Sector in Ghana for Socio-Economic Development – the Role of Ghana Gas Worker.
At the launch, the Chairman of the GGSSA, Mr. Richmond Alamu touted the effective solutions introduced by the Staff which helped curtail the infamous “Dumsor” situation in the country. He said the Association will continue to support management to help Ghana Gas grow. “We need to produce more, and when we produce more, it means that we’ll have more facilities, and also what it means is that more Ghanaians will get more jobs. You know when you are producing, you know you are making a lot of income.” Mr. Alamu added.
Richmond Alamu, Chairman of the GGSSA, also stated that the Association will forever be grateful to the Board, Management, and CEO of Ghana Gas for their efforts and contributions to indigenizing the workforce of Ghana Gas. He also pleaded with Ghana Gas’ employees to always consider the company’s vision as a priority and work toward achieving it.
The Chief Executive of Ghana Gas, Dr. Ben Asante urged the Association not to take interest only in Staff but also in the company’s expansion. “Let me urge all of you, both technical and non-technical staff to join forces and fold up your sleeves as we strive to contribute our quota to expanding the gas infrastructure across the entire country.” The CEO commended the GGSSA, “to date, I have and continue to enjoy the full support and collaboration of the Association in carrying out the vision for this Company, especially the indigenisation of our workforce.” He challenged the association to go beyond achieving the welfare of the workers only. “The Association should be interested in the welfare of the company since the staff association will not be if there is no company.”
The Deputy Minister for Energy, Dr. Amin Adam charged the Staff of the Company to help make the construction of the new gas processing plant a reality. “I am confident that this Association will be constructive, rather than being destructive in your engagement with management. You would use the Association as a source of transformation and not a source of conflict. Mr Amin Adam also commended the Board, Management and workforce for making Ghana Gas a key contributor to the Energy Value Chain and urged them to ensure that the government’s vision of constructing a second processing plant becomes a reality.
Ghana Gas Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Ben K.D Asante, on his part, said the administration with the support of the Senior Staff Association has made a prominent contribution to continuously train and build the capacity and components at all levels. “At Ghana Gas, emphasis is placed on the in-house job training. Mentorship is very important,” he said, “to be able to sustain the intellectual capacity that we so pride ourselves on.” The CEO took the opportunity to touch on some of the areas of expansion within the gas industry, citing the onshore pipeline that will begin from Takoradi to Tema, almost 300 kilometres to enhance both reliability and the capacity of the country’s system.
The CEO revealed that the Company is looking to increase the capacity of the existing processing plant to double its operations. He, therefore, charged the management to work by deliverables and work extra by self-motivation and teamwork.
