The Volta River Authority (VRA) senior staff association and the local union under the House Grouping have loudly called on government to conduct forensic investigations into the activities of the authority.
To begin with, they want the chief executive officer, Dr. Charles Yves Wereko-Brobby, and his entire board of directors immediately removed and put before the fast track court.
This was the outcome of a House Grouping meeting that was held at the Akosombo community centre last Friday.
A Chronicle undercover investigator was at the packed-to-capacity centre, and said the atmosphere was so charged that it could only equate with the very high tension being generated by the hydro plant.
With pent-up feelings, the VRA workers, only last Tuesday morning, unveiled a banner at the dam site roundabout with the inscription: ‘Wereko-Brobby must go; Put him before Fast Track Court.’
In typical George Orwell’s Animal Farm fashion, the workers showed solidarity by driving in the roundabout more than twice, at a time when they centred the beautiful banner, and waved in anticipation of their liberation.
Chronicle that morning, at about 7:30, spotted the banner and within 10 minutes when this reporter laid hands on a camera to take shots of the happenings - as the hope-filled workers, some walking, filed past in a single line - the unexpected happened.
Personnel from the security department, upon orders, quickly went and removed the banner.
Information gathered was that the instruction was to fold and hide the banner, as quickly as possible, so that the telescopic eyes of Chronicle reporters would not catch it.
From that day, the issue of the missing banner was discussed at drinking bars, offices, on the pylons, control rooms, bedrooms - and in some cases - wives were quoted as saying that they were prepared to offer their amansen (menstrual sanitary pads) to be hoisted as banners and bands if that should be the last resort.
So on Friday, at exactly 5:00 p.m., the Akosombo community centre was bursting at its seams. The opening prayer by a lady was the prelude and signal for things ahead during the meeting, and it demonstrated that, indeed, VRA was in armour. She asked all informants to depart from the gathering before the Holy Spirit descended on them.
Leadership of the House Grouping briefed the workers on salary negotiations that had been going on between them and management, which run into a deadlock.
According to the leaders, management had taken an entrenched position, deciding to offer 40% and 55% salary increases for the union and the senior staff association respectively and also prepared to increase certain levels of allowances.
The ball was therefore thrown into the court of the assembled for necessary action. Electromotive charges surfaced when the floor was thrown open.
A unanimous decision was arrived at to wear red bands and fly red flags beginning today for two weeks and if, government failed to remove the CEO and the board, pending investigations into the activities of Dr. Wereko-Brobby, then they would storm the headoffice in Accra in further protest.
Asked the reason for the red flags and bands, the gathering, from all departments, including medicals, accused Tarzan’s administration of witnessing too many negative media battles, which, as such, had brought the VRA into disrepute.
The Strategic Reserve Plant (SRP), they said, had been contracted under ‘darkness’ and had now become a vampire at a time when pay slips were recording zero.
The numerous resignations that have hit the authority and arbitrary use of power were some of their reasons to ‘go red.’ It was announced for onward transmission to government to make Dr. Wereko-Brobby insulate the VRA from the legal battle he is preparing against Chronicle.
The crowd went gay when one person took the floor and initiated songs: ''Ye be yen dea na ye tu Brobby – ku Brobby ma yen'' which were sung rollickingly with a chorus.
They referred to the Bible – John 10: 49-51 – in which the high priest, Caiaphas, stated: ''It is good for one man to die than the whole nation to perish.''
In a related development, representatives of General Electric (GE), who landed in the country about two weeks ago to demand rental arrears of the SRP, have untied the Gordian knot, by suspending the power project until the VRA is able to pay the arrears into its accounts.
The paper’s investigations revealed that on February 25, this year, a memorandum from the director, Dept./LOC; TGD/Accra, filed TGD/12.2/03/95 went to the deputy chief executive (E&O) Dept. LOC; Corporate office Accra, headlined ‘Strategic Reserve Plant, GE Rental Payment Claim.’ We refer to the discussions between yourself and the VRA team charged with negotiating with GE on the claim of rental payment for the period leading up to commercial operation date (COD).
The VRA team met with GE on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 and wish to report on the outcome of the meeting as follows:
1. Rental payments for the period July 12, 2002 to February 28, 2003, GE’s position is that the VRA owes a total of $6.9 million as against $1,756,452, which the VRA considers to be owed GE under the rental agreement. This leaves a variance of $5,143,548 in GE’s favour.
2. Rental payments for the period March 1, 2003 to January 31, 2004, to compensate VRA for pre-COD rental payments, claimed by GE, the VRA has been offered a rebate of $55,000 per unit per month starting in January 2004 to the end of the rental term.
For a two-year rental term, the total value of the rebate offered by GE is $3,575,000, which translates into a net present value of $3,054,565 (at 8% discount rate in February, 2003 dollar).
At the meeting GE offered to split the difference of $2,088,983 between what it is claiming for the period up to February 28, this year and what the VRA accepts is contractually owed to GE.
This implies GE would deduct an amount of $1,044,491.50 from total claim of $6.9 million, leaving a difference of $5,855,508.50 as what is due to GE.
Of the amount being claimed, GE has already had $3.6 million on VRA’s standby letter of credit. Therefore, acceptance of this offer would imply that an amount of $2,255,508.50 would be owed GE by February 28, this year.
