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Ghana Post Board Is Hot

Mon, 31 May 2010 Source: The Informer

As President Directs SFO To Investigate Monstrous Chop-Chop

And Selfish Attempts To Sabotage Better Ghana Agenda

Ghana Post Company is the certified fattest cow in town, so after unscrupulous members of staff had milked the company dry, the current Board of Directors are on course to carelessly dissipate the little left of the company’s finances, and ultimately bankrupt the company, a socially cum politically disastrous decision, should it be allowed to happen.

This attempt to profit one’s self, against the Better Ghana principle of selfless service to the nation, has come to the attention of the President, H.E John Evans Atta Mills, who The Informer confirmed, has directed the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the Board of Directors of Ghana Post chaired by Mr John Sey.

The Ghana Post Company Board stands accused of flouting the procurement laws of Ghana, (Act 663) and acting largely on the whims and caprices of a Board Chairman, who is on collision course with the staff of the company. Acting on the directive of Mr. John Sey, Ghana Post is said to have imported for appointment as Deputy Managing Director, one Victor Boakye Bonsu, a U.S.-based ordinary chartered accountant, who once worked under the Ghana Post Board Chairman. The position of Deputy Managing Director, in charge of Finance and Administration was never advertised, so John Sey’s pet attended a friendly meeting with the board and was subsequently dashed the position.

That not enough, Chairman John Sey authorised the company to fork-out a whooping ?1.2 billion to pay for an automatic Nissan Petrol 4x4, for his imported chartered accountant, after shifting the Deputy Managing Director’s official vehicle to the Board Secretary, at a time that the Toyota Land Cruiser of the out-gone Managing Director was parked at the company’s yard, among the pool of cars.

This gross insensitivity to the finances of a struggling firm incensed the workers of the company that had been mismanaged for eight years and was in total comatose, as a result of insurmountable debts.

The Informer is further aware that the same John Sey, who is running Ghana Post like an ‘apam-pam’ store succeeded in twisting the arm of the other members on the board to agree to a contract of US$50,000.00 awarded to Intesol, for redesigning of the company’s logo.

This monstrous contract has raised eye-brows, set tongues wagging and has become a source of worry to top government officials when brought to their attention. The Intesol contract, which was not advertised and hence did not go through competitive-bidding process, is in clear violation of the Procurement Act, passed in 2003. This is what is said to have angered the Presidency, hence directing SFO to move in quickly, so that a decision can be taken on the board, as soon as practicable. The Castle, the seat of government is finding it difficult to understand why a financially distressed company can fork-out such amount of money for redesigning of a logo, as part of a rebranding exercise. Top government officials who spoke to The Informer are alarmed that an agreement between Ghana Post and a reputable bank in the country, has been sabotaged by the board, whose Chairman and Deputy Chairman are giving petty and unintelligent reasons for such a wasteful decision.

In order to ensure the flow of justifiable weekly incomes, the board of directors of Ghana Post has resulted to having weekly meetings at the company’s premises in the guise of helping to implement strategic policies. The weekly meetings are held by the Operations or the Technical sub-committees of the board, Chaired by member Kwasi Nyantekyi and Chairman John Sey, respectively. Apart from the monthly board meetings where the board members take home Gh?300.00 and Gh?350.00 per person, the board members, for their weekly meetings take home Gh?200.00-Gh?250.00.

In continuation of their unprecedented level of managerial interference and vulgar irrationalism of best practises, the Ghana Post Board decided to chalk another historic mark by attempting to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the workers of the company. Collective Bargaining Agreements, which in all decent corporate environments, is negotiated between management and union, is today the sole non-negotiable right of the John Sey and Kwasi Nyantakyi board of directors.

After originally cancelling and slapping a moratorium on the payment of all End of Service Benefits (ESBs), because of the precarious nature of the company’s accounts, the board of directors are in a fix as to how to negotiate collective bargaining agreement with the angry workers of the company, many of whom, after thirty years of selfless service to their country, are being asked to go home to live only on pension benefits.

The sheer illogical nature of decisions from the board continues, as on Friday, John Sey singlehandedly decided to shift the board meeting from the company’s premises to Golden Tulip Hotel, and ordered the release of GH?2,500.00 (?25 million) from the coffers of the distressed company, as cost of the venue. This he explained was to avoid the angry reaction that the presence of the board members may attract from the workers, who are up in arms against the board. Stay Tuned For More.

Source: The Informer