No tribalism at Ghana Water Company - Union sets record straight

There is no doubt that some appointments made so far by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has generated some controversies.

Antagonists of the President have accused him of considering people from certain parts of the country at the expense of others.

There is no doubt that some appointments made so far by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has generated some controversies. Antagonists of the President have accused him of considering people from certain parts of the country at the expense of others.

A case in question some of them cite is the appointment of Dr Clifford Briamah as the new Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited, where some disappointed MD hopefuls have chastised the sector minister over the appointment and even accused the president of political corruption.

A statement widely circulated in the media and attributed to some so-called concerned workers of Ghana Water Company Limited claimed: “Kofi Adda's appointment of Dr. Clifford Braimah as MD of GWCL is a tribal satisfaction rather than national one.”

However, a move by these aggrieved senior staff, who are mainly chief managers, to incite workers against the newly appointed MD have been shot down by a large section of the workers who have seen through the diabolic agenda of their superiors.

Some of the company’s top officials have long been notorious for systemic corruption. This unfavorable reputation has naturally been a source of concern to donors, including the World Bank that accused management of embarking on white elephant projects.

Some workers, frustrated by the corruption and unscrupulous practices, had been clamouring for change and a removal of these senior staff from office to save the company and its image.

Prior to Dr Braimah’s appointment, there were media publications suggesting that workers would not accept the President’s choice of MD if the person did not come from the fold of GWCL.

A senior staff told this paper that “these appointments are the exclusive preserves of the president, and as long as the man qualifies for the job, the needless tribal controversy must be put to rest.”

He said the dearth and near-collapse of Ghana water infrastructure under the supervision of these chief managers and the alarming rate of mismanagement is “what we warned government against and we are happy government listened to us and snubbed these people”

They noted that the primary goal of most of these chief managers, who were seeking to assume the position, was for self-enrichment.

According to him, these persons, who had been responsible for running the affairs of GWCL, had been so inept that they were only interested in lining their pockets, at the expense of good leadership and sound operational decisions.

“Indeed, such was their greed that they ended up buying expired chemicals, and machines with the wrong specifications which are cleverly stashed away at their Tema round about stores,” he added.

He added: “Clearly one could see that, they wanted to assume the highest office to continue to access and siphon funds, but without any meaningful vision of bringing progress to the transformation agenda of the company. I was personally troubled when I learnt that some of the principal architects of the poor decision making and wrong procurements which had rendered GWCL a lame duck body, were lining up to be considered for the position of Managing Directors by the New NPP administration.”

Welcoming the President’s choice, the union executive said all the three persons who were seen as the main protagonist are persons whose past are so fraught with corruption that it would have been wrong to allow any of them to be appointed MD.

Speaking with some journalist yesterday, he said the angry officials were seeking to work against the MD’s moves to turn around the company.