GBC Director-General must step aside for forensic audit — Union
The divisional and the senior management unions of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) have reinforced their call for a forensic audit into the finances of the state broadcaster.
In line with that the unions have asked the National Media Commission (NMC) to let the Director-General of GBC, Professor Amin Alhassan, step aside.
Making the call at a media briefing at the Broadcasting House in Accra yesterday, the Chairman of the GBC Senior Management Union, Ebenezer Odzaw, said the Director of Human Resource, John Osei Korasare, must also go.
He accused the management of GBC of being responsible for what “we consider serious mismanagement of the corporation’s scarce resources and financial malfeasance”.
“We wish to inform the appointing authorities that we have lost confidence in the leadership of the Director-General, and can no longer work under his leadership.
“We are calling for a forensic audit into the finances of the corporation from October 1, 2019, when Prof. Alhassan assumed office, to date.
We are also calling on the Director of Human Resources, Mr Korasare, to proceed on leave with immediate effect,” the chairman added.
Alleged victimisation
Mr Odzaw, who was flanked by all the union executives, clad in red, said the meeting was a follow-up to an earlier one held last week by the union regarding allegations of victimisation.
“Two of our colleagues have been transferred to Tamale in the Northern Region and Wa in the Upper West Region, while another has been asked to vacate his bungalow,” he alleged.
The affected staff, according to Mr Odzaw, petitioned the union, and the matter was duly tabled for discussion at a standing joint committee.
He said the union wrote to the management of the corporation through its mother union, the Public Services Workers’ Union (PSWU), demanding reversal of the two unilateral decisions taken by management within 24-hours.
“The 24-hour ultimatum expired last Friday, and as of now, we have received no response from management.
“In view of this silence, we have decided to begin wearing red armbands and hoisting red flags as a sign of protest and to express our deep dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs at GBC,” the chairman said.
Other issues
Mr Odzaw further mentioned issues such as staff promotions, re-tooling of the corporation, staff attrition, stoppage of salaries, unfair termination of appointments of some workers, enhancement of the provident fund and general staff welfare concerns as issues that were still pending at the standing joint committee.
He said although they expected those concerns to have been concluded last year, they still remained unresolved.
Mr Odzaw also accused management over alleged sale of GBC lands across the country, the 13th African Games contract and payments and matters that arose from the agreement, staff maltreatment, bad faith in standing joint negotiations, neglect of staff welfare, non-refund of medical bills, non-payment of fuel allowances, non-payment of transfer grants, failure to replace broken-down vehicles and equipment and discrimination in staff promotions.
He, however, urged staff not to feel intimidated, stressing that “we remain united and resolute in the defence of our rights and the future of this corporation.”
Presidential visit
For his part, the Chairman of the Divisional Union of PSWU, Sam Nat Kevor, also expressed disappointment in the management for keeping information on the recent visit by President John Dramani Mahama away from the union.
Mr Kevor also chastised the NMC for looking on while the corporation took a nose dive, adding that “the NMC must not only be interested in who they appoint to head GBC, but must also be interested in what happens at the corporation”.
