The University of Ghana chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG‑UG) has warned that continued delays in the payment of the 2026 Book and Research Allowance could push university lecturers toward industrial action. President of the chapter, Dr Jerry Joe Harrison, said growing frustration over the unpaid allowance was becoming a major concern on university campuses, with the possibility of a strike now on the horizon.
“I’m afraid there may be a strike,” Dr Harrison said on the Eyewitness News on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, while stressing that the potential industrial action would reflect broader concerns about unresolved issues affecting lecturers. He added that the Book and Research Allowance, which supports lecturers’ academic and research activities, remained unpaid despite being due, with no clear indication of when the money would be released.
“Every year, Book and Research becomes an issue,” he said, accusing the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) of failing to adequately address issues affecting lecturers and the wider higher education system. His comments come amid renewed tensions between UTAG and GTEC over the commission’s role in Ghana’s public tertiary institutions. UTAG‑UG has separately accused GTEC of overstepping its regulatory mandate by directly recruiting academic staff for public institutions.
Dr Harrison indicated that the threat of industrial action was not necessarily tied directly to the recruitment dispute but to what he described as GTEC’s failure to address its core responsibilities and other longstanding concerns affecting academics. UTAG has previously warned government over delays in the payment of the allowance. In June 2026, the association threatened nationwide industrial action over delays in determining the exchange rate needed to process the allowance.
The Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, subsequently said government was processing the payments and assured lecturers that President John Dramani Mahama would not allow UTAG to go on strike over the issue. But Dr Harrison said the continued delays were adding to frustration among lecturers and could deepen tensions across public universities.
He said government and the institutions responsible for tertiary education must address the outstanding payments and other conditions affecting lecturers to prevent the situation from escalating into industrial action.
