An Accra High Court has dismissed an injunction application filed by some workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), to put on hold the privatisation of ECG.
The presiding judge, Justice Lorrenda Owusu, has said that her decision was based on the governing principle of balance of convenience. She explained that she dismissed the application in concurrence with the Attorney General that government would suffer serious hardships if the ongoing privatisation was stopped.
Workers of ECG and the Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU), took the government to court over the privatisation of ECG and insisted that they should be paid redundancy package since the privatisation did not guarantee them their jobs in the future.
PUWU and workers of ECG prayed the court to order the defendants to abide by the provisions of the Labour Act and go through the proper redundancy process as laid down in the country’s laws and pay their severance package.
The Government opposed their application, stating that the Labour Laws allowed for the transfer of workers.
Justice Owusu said that should the substantive matter go in favour of the workers, the government would be obliged to pay the workers.
Justice Owusu advised both the workers of ECG and government, to continue negotiations in order to reach a peaceful agreement
