Outgrowers threaten to boycott oil palm company

An Outgrowers and Shareholders Association (OGISHA) within the Ghana Oil Palm Development Company (GOPDC) in the Kwaebibirem district has threatened to stop selling their palm produce to the company, if it fails to pay farmers their back pay and other entitlements.

But for the timely intervention of the Kwaebibirem District Chief Executive (KDCE), Mr. Yaw Yiadom Boakye, members of OGISHA would have poured into the streets to demonstrate their disappointment to GOPDC’s treatment on Monday.

The angry farmers warned at a press conference on March 5, that “should the company refuse to pay us our money, we will process our produce and sell.”

What that means is that they would divert their palm oil to other potential buyers and dry up the supply to scores of manufacturing industries whose source is the GOPDC.

That could end up in closing some factories and loss of jobs to hundreds of people.

The feud between GOPDC and OGISHA was generated from the issuance of share certificates to outgrowers and shareholders years ago, it was learnt.

Briefing the press at Kade, the association secretary, Asiedu Amponsah who was flanked by its chairman, Samuel Koranteng, and other members of the group, expressed members’ resentment to the mode in which GOPDC was divested in 1995.

According to the secretary, Appiah Menka, the owner of Apino Soap Company Ltd who emerged the highest bidder with an offer of $11 million of GOPDC was sidestepped and the company handed over to the Belgium-based SIAT company which offered only $7 million. “And even that has, to date, not been fully paid.”

Shareholders of the company include the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) which wields 31%, the Ghana Government - 20% and SIAT 29%, Amponsah explained.

The secretary said SSNIT and SIAT decided to form a partnership company and surprisingly adopted the name SIAT of Ghana out of all possible names.

He continued that the executive secretary of SSNIT was made chairman of the Board of Trustees for the company, but also surprisingly relinquished his chairmanship position to the chairman of SIAT Belgium in 1998.

In a document made available to the press by the association, there was an agreement of ?1.559 billion which SIAT Ghana was supposed to pay on behalf of the farmers but failed to honour its obligation until May 2000 by which time the value of the 15% share holding had gone up to ?6 billion.

The association questioned the beneficiaries of the 15% dividends declared so far.

From the same document, the total dividends declared as at December 2000 amounted to $23.44 billion out of which 15% shares amounted to ?35 billion.

The excess amount which is over ?1.55 billion which should have gone to the farmers in addition to shareholders certificate is what they are now demanding.

They are also asking that the scholarship scheme which is now redundant should be made to function, waive the power tiller and fertilizer imposed on them against their will since they are causing a lot of anxiety among farmers.

Chronicle learnt that all these anomalies were detected by the association when they made an effort to find out whether government had benefited from any dividend declared so far.

The paper learnt that at a meeting of farmers and management of GOPDC in August, last year, it was learnt that management agreed to pay farmers their back pay if the stock pile of oil was disposed of at a higher price.

Indeed the stock of oil which was disposed of at a higher price fetched the company $387 per metric tonne as at July 2001 instead of $287 per metric tonne.

The increase realized in the sales should have made the company paid the farmers, but they failed to honour their promise which prompted the farmers to go on demonstration to demand for their pay.