General Secretary for National Service Personnel Association (NASPA), Nana Adu Gyamfi has responded to criticism that the association has drifted away from its core mission of representing service personnel and has become a public relations entity for the National Service Scheme (NSS) secretariat.
In an interview on Campus Exclusive, he acknowledged that some people may view NASPA’s approach as too collaborative with management but emphasized that their strategy is aimed at achieving practical results.
“For me it is a reality check. If you are serving a large number of people like the National Service, which houses about 150,000, you don’t expect everyone to sing your praises. I like it when they put us on your toes.”
“When they say that we are being a PR for the scheme, what I want them to understand is, we go into meetings with management, the stakeholders. There are a lot of things that we are being informed about that we can’t inform them, probably depending on the timing. So, it is not as if we are being a PR to the scheme but sometimes, we want them to face reality.”
He cited the recent payment of April and May allowances as an example. NASPA was informed about the payment schedule ahead of time but kept the information private to avoid arousing agitation among service personnel.
“We know our people are already agitated, so we didn’t want to raise their expectations only to disappoint them if the payment was delayed.”
In response to claims that the association is not fighting hard enough for service personnel, Mr. Gyamfi stressed the importance of advocacy and dialogue over demonstrations and strikes.
“In my whole life as a Ghanaian, I’ve not seen one issue that a strike or demonstration has solved in this country,” the leader said. “If I have the chance to sit down with you and explain my problems, I’ll choose that any day over demonstrating.”
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Story by: Michelle Lartey | univers.ug.edu.gh
