ICU lauds govt’s policy to set up women’s bank

The Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) has lauded the government’s decision to establish a women’s bank to enable women to have access to financial resources.

It said the government’s policy to establish the bank was apt and would no doubt go a long way in helping women, who constitute a greater proportion of Ghana’s population and also dominate the informal economy.

Speaking in Wa during the Upper West Regional Conference of the ICU, the General Secretary, Morgan Ayawine, said the initiative would create quick and easy financial access for women and resource them to embark on productive economic activity that would positively impact the nation’s growth.

“ICU-Ghana would therefore like to urge the government to be purposeful and consistent with this women’s bank project and make it sustainable to bring economic relief to Ghanaian women and their families and, by extension, to the nation as a whole.

“We would, however, like to advise that the establishment of a women’s bank, this time around, should not be abandoned mid-way for lack of funds as was the case in the past with the Women’s World Bank,” he said.

Rural and Community Banks

Mr Ayawine said the system of governance practised in the rural and community banks, a stark contrast to the generally accepted corporate governance system in Ghana, was a great cause for concern.

Instances, he said abound, where board chairpersons of rural and community banks waded into the managerial/administrative functions of chief executive officers or general managers and issued query letters to staff of the banks, and sometimes, went to the extent of signing termination and dismissal letters to staff against best practices in labour relations.  

“As we know, the role of the board of directors is entirely distinct from the role of management.

To wit, the board of directors formulate major policies to guide the operations of the organisation, whereas management is entrusted with the day-to-day administration of the organisation in terms of employment, non-employment, staff training, discipline, collective bargaining and others to ensure orderly and systematic operations at the workplace,” he said.  

Therefore, he said interference by board chairmen in the routine managerial/ administrative work of the rural and community banks, which was the preserve of the management of the banks, disorganised the worker-management relationship at the banks, which sometimes created industrial disharmony.

Mr Ayawine said that was quite problematic and unconventional in corporate governance, “to the best of our knowledge as a trade union that believes in the balance of power at the workplace.”

“We, therefore, urge such board chairmen who interfere in the day-to-day administration of the rural and community banks and usurp the assigned technocratic roles of chief executive officers or general managers, to desist from such acts as it negatively impacts the efficiency, effectiveness and above all, the corporate image of the rural and community banks,” he said.

Quadrennial Delegates Conference

He said the Trades Union quadrennial delegates’ conferences allowed members of the union and workers the opportunity to express their opinions on national issues such as the country's socio-economic situation.

The forthcoming 12th Quadrennial Delegates’ Conference of our Union, he said therefore, gives “Us a great opportunity to talk to the government on socio-economic issues that are not helping the cause of workers on whose shoulders the development of the nation rest, as well as policies that are inimical to the interest and livelihood of workers, through conference resolutions”.