The Mystery At Wahome Steel

Officials from the Office of the President and a Management Team of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) will visit the Wahome Steel Company at Tema to ascertain why the company has been closed down again.

A source close to Wahome told the GNA in Tema that the company, which reopened barely a week ago after it had been closed down for about three months, is experiencing power disconnection for defaulting in the payment of a 1.3 billion cedi bill.

It said before the shut down last March, the company, which produces nails and binding wires, had incurred a loss of about 76 billion cedis.

The source explained that the loss is as a result of a fall in foreign exchange rates, bank charges on loans and over invoicing among others issues.

It said the company, which started with a Taiwanese group of shareholders as management allegedly indulged in over-invoicing of imported billets for the production of iron rods.

Items imported were written in Chinese, which they translated without cross checking the information.

It said SSNIT advanced loans to the company, which were later, changed into an equity share of 49 per cent while the Taiwanese group and International Finance Company (IFC) held the remaining 51 per cent.

It said an officer was brought from SSNIT to manage the company in 1998 due to mismanagement until the current Managing Director, Mr Richard Asamoah Mensah took up his post about a year ago.

Wahome, which had a workforce of about 900, now has about 380 workers whose salaries are in arrears for the past five months.