The National Labour Commission (NLC) has directed the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS) to reinstate Christiana Edem Dugbazah, a Senior Human Resource Manager at the Guan District Assembly in the Oti Region, after more than two years of suspension and salary deprivation.
In a letter dated October 23, 2024, the NLC also ordered the OHLGS to pay her transfer grant following her reassignment from the Kwahu South Municipal Assembly to the Guan District Assembly.
Sources indicate that the issue of reinstatement has been referred to the OHLGS Council for administrative action.
Dugbazah, who has served in the Local Government Service since November 2012, alleged that her ordeal began after she was transferred to the Guan District Assembly. She said that while on medical excuse duty granted on July 1, 2022, the Kwahu South Municipal Assembly stopped validating her salary.
“I was told by the Municipal Coordinating Director that the President had ordered a stoppage of salaries for all staff who do not come to work, even if they have an excuse duty from the hospital,” she stated in her petition to the NLC.
According to her, the salary suspension severely affected her access to medical care and worsened her financial situation during her recovery period.
She also accused officials of Kwahu South Municipal Assembly of denying her promotion benefits and alleged that police officers, acting on the Assembly’s instruction, broke into her residence while she was hospitalized and set her belongings ablaze.
“They emptied all my belongings, including money and valuables, and ruthlessly burned them,” she alleged, adding that the incident deepened her depression and delayed her recovery.
The NLC, after reviewing her case, ruled in her favor, describing the actions against her as unjustified and contrary to the Local Government Service regulations.
The Commission’s directive adds that the OHLGS must ensure her full reinstatement, payment of all outstanding entitlements, and compensation for the period of wrongful salary suspension.
Efforts to reach officials of the Kwahu South Municipal Assembly and the OHLGS for their comments have so far proven unsuccessful.
By Peter Quao Adattor
