Vodafone, the company which took over Ghana Telecom, amidst protests by the then opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC), and a section of the Ghanaian public, has began closing down some of its municipal offices. Central File has gathered that Vodafone has shut down its office at Dunkwa-On-Offin and Winneba, all in the Central Region.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Upper Denkyira East, Peter Kofi Owusu Ashia, told the page that he was worried about the closure of Vodafone office at Dunkwa, which has a giant edifice as office complex.
He wondered where the workers in his municipality would be, and what the building would be used for after the closure of the office.
Close sources at the Vodafone office in Cape Coast, the regional capital, revealed that the Winneba office of Vodafone had also been affected by the decision to close municipal offices. It is now spreading like wildfire through the other district offices that their fate as workers of Vodafone, lies in the balance.
In August last year, the decision by government to offload its 70% shares in Ghana Telecom (GT) to Vodafone sparked controversy among political parties and the general public.
President John Evans Atta Mills, then the majority opposition leader, joined the masses to protest against the proposed sale of the government shares in GT.
Other important personalities like Bright Akwetey, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom and Nii Moi Thompson, of the Convention People's Party (CPP), all kicked against the deal, which was finally brokered by the NPP government.
The workers of then GT staged protests to back the sale of the government company across the country, in which The Chronicle covered the Cape Coast event at the premises of the GT headquarters at Pedu Junction in the Cape Coast metropolis.
The elated workers held placards high, of which some read, "No Vodafone, No GT: Abrofono Aba: Welcome Vodafone: GT will collapse without Vodafone, among others.
Some passengers whose journeys were delayed by the protest, which started on the main Cape Coast Takoradi Highway, pitied the workers for not knowing the danger ahead of them with the offloading of government shares in the company.
Some predicted that the majority of GT workers would go home when the deal is brokered, adding that the workers were exposing their inefficiency by supporting the privatisation process as if that was the panacea to the problems bedeviling the then GT.
Attempts to speak to the Vodafone Director of Corporate Affairs, Maj. Albert Don-Chebe (rtd), to explain the rationale behind the closure of the offices, proved futile, as he promised to call the page back via text message when he missed several phone calls made to his cell phone.
After calling again to ask about the issue, he promised to call the page back, but had not done so as of the time of filing the page on Tuesday.
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