CLOGSAG member sues Executive Committee

A member of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG), has filed a writ at a Sunyani High Court seeking an order to restrain its Executive Committee from inaugurating a Board of Trustees for the CLOGSAG Fund.

Mr Isaac Tachie, a local government staff, stationed at the Sunyani Municipal Assembly, is also praying the court, to compel the Committee to account for, what he described “as unlawful” a two per cent monthly deductions from the salaries of the about 51,000 members of the Association.

An accompanying affidavit filed by Mr Alexander Amponsah, Counsel for the plaintiff, at the Adom Legal Consult Limited in Sunyani, and made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), on Wednesday, stated that the alleged composition of the 12-member Board of Trustees was “unlawful and invalid.”

“The Executive Committee has no mandate to call for the composition and inauguration of the Board of Trustees of the CLOGSAG Fund without approval from the quadrennial delegates’ congress or the National Executive Council (NEC) of CLOGSAG,” it stated.

The affidavit stated that, according to CLOGSAG’s constitution, it was rather the quadrennial delegates’ congress and the NEC, which had the capacity to decide on the composition and inauguration of the Board of trustees for the Fund.

According to the affidavit, the Executive Committee had circulated letters signed by the Executive Secretary, for the inauguration of the Board of Trustees for the CLOGSAG Fund without the mandate from the NEC.

It expressed regret that the Committee had also from July 2014, unlawfully deducted from salaries of members into the purported CLOGSAG Fund without the authorisation and the consent of the members.

The affidavit explained that the idea of establishing the CLOGSAG fund was mooted at the Association’s 11th quadrennial delegates’ congress, held at Cape Coast, where the NEC was mandated to formulate proposals for the establishment.

“In this regard the NEC came out with a brochure outlining the modalities of the fund, which was published in the brochure titled, the ‘CLOGSAG Fund,’” it said.

The affidavit added that “apart from this modalities published by the NEC, neither the NEC nor the quadrennial delegates’ congress has taken any step for the establishment of the CLOGSAG Fund Board of Trustees”.

It explained that the CLOGSAG Fund, according to NEC’s proposals, was meant as a voluntary contribution to be made by members, and prayed the court to stop the monthly two per cent deductions.