GBC unionised staff call for Director-General’s exit - Prof. Alhassan denies any wrongdoing

The unionised staff of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) is demanding the immediate exit of the Director-General of the corporation, Professor Amin Alhassan.

It said the Director-General was out of tune with the aspirations of both the workers and the corporation and, therefore, demanded that his contract should not be extended.

In a quick reaction, however, Prof. Alhassan told the Daily Graphic that he had a renewed contract from the appointing authority, the National Media Commission (NMC), effective October 2, 2023.

He debunked all the allegations made by the local union and said even though the union had "unfettered access to management, it has failed to follow due process to schedule meetings with management”.

Press conference

Addressing unionised staff at a news conference on the premises of GBC on March 20, 2025, the Chairman of the GBC Local Union, Sam Nat Kevor, declared the DG as an unwelcomed person on the premises and said unionised staff were aware and mindful of the strategic importance of the state broadcaster to national security and would, therefore, not want to do anything to disturb the peace at the corporation.

He said though the tenure of Prof. Alhassan ended on October 1, 2023, the NMC still found it convenient to allow him to stay in office.

To that end, “the unionised workers of GBC have lost confidence in Professor Alhassan and the NMC,” Mr Kevor stated.

Union demands

Touching on other demands of the union, the GBC union chairman called for an immediate investigation and forensic audit into the financial dealings at GBC during the tenure of Prof. Alhassan.

“The union also calls for investigation into the applications and operations of the Internally Generated Fund at GBC, full and adequate compensation for the technicians and production teams that worked during the 13th African Games,” he stressed.

Similarly, Mr Kevor asked for a similar investigation into financial payments and expected accruals during the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the payments for the 13th African Games to GBC.

Investigations

While calling for further investigation into the sales or leases of all GBC lands across the country, the GBC Local Union chairman said since the expiration of the tenure of the DG, there was no official communication to either the workers or the public about his status neither had there been an explanation for his 17-month continuous stay in office.

Mr Kevor said the unionised staff had since November 21, 2023, through its mother union, the Public Sector Workers Union (PSWU), formally written to the NMC and the Office of the President seeking clarity on the status of the DG.

He said the NMC on  December 11, 2023, responded that it was in the process of determining the leadership of the GBC and that the union should apprise itself of Article 168 of the 1992 Constitution, which enjoined the NMC to appoint the board, Chief Executives of the state-owned media in consultation with the President.

“GBC today is virtually on its knees and a pale shadow of itself. In terms of logistics, equipment, and personnel. GBC was once a standard measure for excellence in broadcasting,” he said, explaining that “due to the actions and inaction of the Director-General, things have rapidly deteriorated.”

Management open

However, Prof. Alhassan said in the interview that the management of GBC was open and had no challenges meeting the union.

The GBC Director-General said the only objective of the leader of the union was to see the DG out of office, stressing that the leader and his team did not understand anything about media management.

He acknowledged the challenges facing the media industry in general in terms of revenue, but said in the face of that difficulty, “I have led the GBC to increase revenue by 50 per cent."

"I bought eight cars during the election and I have used IGF to ???? all I have done," the communication specialist and academician added.

Prof. Alhassan discredited allegations that he had sold lands belonging to the corporation, explaining that interested parties had only expressed interest.