Foreign Affairs staff angry

Some staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have expressed anger and dissatisfaction over some treatments being meted out to them.

According to them, they feel intimidated by some senior officers and morale among the staff within the past two years has been low.

The aggrieved staff are, thus, calling on the President, John Dramani Mahama, to intervene in order to rekindle morale at the ministry.

Speaking to the DAILY HERITAGE in an interview they stated that, “we believe this is happening at the blind side of the President that’s why we are making this call for him to be aware.”

When asked whether they have mentioned the issue to their authorities, they explained that, they dare not do that because they will be labeled as the ‘black sheep’ at the ministry and would be victims of more intimidation from their bosses.

“When we try to confront them on certain issues, they tell us do we know how they suffered to get to the position they have now. They tell us they are the heads and we are just mere public servants.

“This intimidates us because we feel we don’t have the right to talk on issues which concerns us,” the source added that.

The angry staff also complained about how transfers are done at the ministry, disclosing that some staff members who are not qualified to be posted are being posted at the expense of the qualified ones.

“For you to be posted to a region then you must have stayed at the main office for at least four years. People who have been here for just a year are being posted and some have been here for almost four years and they are not being posted,” the paper was told.

Another issue that the staff described as an unfair treatment was the procedure used in cross- posting.

They explained that, the problem they have with the cross-posting is the inability of the ministry to communicate well with them before carrying out with the process.

“Cross posting is like when you are working in a mission in Togo, you can be transferred to somewhere Washington in the United States.

“It is good though, but our problem is that they don’t tell us anything. You will be there and they will tell you are due for cross posting. They don’t explain to us why they are taking that action and why you are being selected for that,” they stated.

They pointed out that they feel harassed and uncomfortable because they work with diplomats and do not know when they will be transferred.

Officials of the ministry contacted declined comment.