Two Swedru/Accra GPRTU officials fired

Agona Swedru, March 1, GNA- Two officials of the Agona Swedru/Accra branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) have been dismissed from the Union. They are Mr George Obeng alias "God Dey" and Mr Ibrahim Kojo Donkoh alias "Fante Kramoh", Vice Chairman and First Trustee respectively. Their dismissal followed investigations by a fact-finding team set up by the Central Regional Secretariat of the GPRTU into charges of misconduct and dishonesty levelled against them by members of the branch.

According to Mr A K Achampong, Senior Industrial Relations Officer, the Regional Secretariat of the GPRTU appointed the fact-finding team as a result of a petition by Mr Obeng and Mr Donkoh for wrongful dismissal from the Union by the branch members. A dismissal letter singed by the Senior Industrial Officer stated that the two officials inflated the prices of material for the repair of the Union's bus and shared the amount of two million cedis. It also accused the Vice Chairman and the First Trustee of using metal plates of the Union for the repair of their vehicles without the consent of the Branch Executives.

The Branch Executives suspended the two officials in 2001 for selling parts of the Union's minibus, the letter recalled and ordered Mr Obeng to refund 5 million cedis being the allowances of Mr Isaiah Otoo, the Chairman from January to August 2004 when he was indisposed, which the Vice Chairman misappropriated. It stressed that the Regional Secretariat would not interfere with the decision of the Swedru/Accra branch of the GPRTU to terminate the appointment and to dismiss the two officials from the Union to serve as deterrent to other Branch officers.