Gifty Abena Turkson
Gifty Abena Turkson, an experienced industrial relations officer, has been elected the new Deputy General Secretary of the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU) of Ghana’s Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The election, carried out by the National Executive Council (NEC) of TEWU, was held after the former Deputy General Secretary, Charles Kofi Osei, suddenly passed away in April, a press release issued on Monday, June 23, 2025 said.
Turkson will join the leadership team of the NEC, which is responsible for major policy decisions and union negotiations, and act as assistant to General Secretary, King James Azortibah, who is the chief spokesperson and administrator for the union.
The election of Turkson sees her become the first female to take the role in the union’s history, which was originally formed in 1962 as the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).
This represents a growing trend within the union to increase the presence of female members within its leadership team.
In April 2024, the union elected Salamatu Mahamah Braimah as its first female National Chairperson, who oversees the activities of the union at a national level.
Turkson’s election means that the National TEWU leadership now has four female national officers: the National Chairperson, the Second Vice Chairperson, the Deputy General Secretary and the First National Trustee.
The roles held by males are the First Vice National Chairman, the General Secretary and the Second National Trustee.
TEWU’s statement says Turkson is a “dedicated labour advocate”, having built her career “defending workers’ rights, deepening social dialogue, and driving innovative trade union strategies at both regional and national levels.”
She was formerly the TEWU Eastern Regional Industrial Relations Officer and contributed to TUC Ghana and its affiliates by serving as a Resource Person for numerous TUC training programmes and workshops
Turkson is likely to focus on campaigning for greater gender equality in the educational workforce at a grassroots level.
The TEWU most recently went on strike in November 2024 after disgruntlement with a delay to the former NPP government’s delay to its service demands, and asked President John Mahama’s government to settle its welfare and service demands in May.
By James Reinhardt