Ghana university teachers strike over research fund.

Public university lecturers across Ghana have declared a strike to protest against the government not paying their book and research allowances, a statement said on Wednesday.

The statement by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) said the lecturers would not take part in any academic work until their demands were met.

University teachers have in recent years battled the government over similar demands but the government has been pushing for the conversion of the book and research allowance into a national research fund.

The fund, according to the government, will be disbursed when an interested lecturer wants support for research but the lecturers disagree with this, insisting that the book and research allowance should not be scrapped but must co-exist with the national research fund.

The association last year embarked on a five-week strike to compel the Ghanaian government to release their book and research allowances.

Government has in recent times been hit with a number of strikes from the public sector, particularly the health, education, judicial and civil services.

Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has said he will not yield to pressure from the labor front to spend outside the budget, a declaration that has further angered the agitating public sector workers. Enditem