Workers of ICOUR demand removal of MD

Correspondence from Upper East

Staff of the Irrigation Company of Upper Region (ICOUR) in Navrongo have called for the removal of the Managing Director, Dr Benedict Bonaventure Aligebam.

The workers, who gathered on the premises of the company Tuesday morning, said the removal of the director has become necessary due to his lack of knowledge and managerial competence to tackle challenges of the company to propel growth.

The workers said Dr Aligebam since his appointment has not made any major contribution to the development of the company, aside rolling out initiatives which enriched him.

Addressing Journalists Tuesday after they matched against his ‘incompetent and autocratic leadership’, Chairman of the General Agricultural Workers Union, Adam Jibril, stated that their demand for the dismissal of the director was to protect the company from financial woes and its eventual collapse.

He said the director lacked the ability to efficiently manage operational issues of the company and that was creating chaos among stakeholders, particularly farmers in the company’s operational communities.

Mr. Adam said whereas the company was peaceful and workers diligently went about their duties in the past to rebuild the company which was almost on its knees, the arrival of Dr. Aligebam could soon worsen the plight of the company as the MD spends from the company’s coffers irresponsibly.

“the mindset of the MD of having such sweeping powers to spend from the company coffers at will without being answerable to anyone is dangerous and must not be entertained. Using bank counter cheques for frivolous expenditures and frequent purchase of mobile phones is irresponsible. The vision of the transformed ICOUR to be self-sustaining and ultimately wean itself off government support cannot be met if this continues. And we cannot afford to stand by and watch this happen to the detriment of our future and that of the company.

Mr. Adam said even though the workers have accorded the director the necessary support since he assumed office in 2019, he was not cooperative with workers especially on matter that concerned them.

He stated that the director did not care about the welfare of workers and he constantly harassed, threatened and intimidated them with his position and a gun. They added that the MD has sacked some experienced workers and was scheming to sack some more in a retrenchment exercise.

He said all attempts by leadership of the Union to have deliberations with him on issues affecting them have been unsuccessful including the numerous letters sent him asking for audience.

Mr. Adam said workers will resist any scheme by the MD to sack the experienced workers and smuggle people into the company under the guise of implementing a Continental Report following a recommendation by GIMPA to recruit some staff to re-enforce the manpower of the company.

“The manager through suspensions, queries, harassments, warnings, commanding workers to run, intimidations, threats of using “pen and paper” to make life miserable for the affected workers etc. these are managerial tools employed here now by the MD. Workers no longer have peace and do not feel safe doing their work without looking over their shoulders for what their MD is planning to do to them”.

“The MD is noted for open proclamation of his gun ownership before workers. His inability to control his anger whiles dealing with his workers is also very well-known and scary. At least, two people (workers) have seen him with the gun. One was threatened and the other one was with him in the field where he went with the gun. It is not ordinary and this is the first time we have seen somebody (a manager) talking about gun ownership and how he is going to use it in the office. The mere talking of it (gun ownership) in the midst of your staff is threatening”.

“The Most dangerous thing now is that the MD is harassing and intimidating retained and experienced workers to resign or be sacked. Whilst some retained workers will be retiring next year, others are being threatened with retrenchment with only few being reassigned”.

Citing the director’s involvement in some illicit dealings at the company such as the sale of subsidized fertilizers meant for farmers under government’s flagship agricultural policy – The Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), the grabbing of company properties and the closure of the company’s Internal Audit Unit, the workers called for the immediate sack of Dr. Benedict Bonaventure Aligebam.

They said failure on the part of authorities to give the director a kick within the next two weeks would leave them with no alternative than to use all legitimate means to boot him out. He stressed that government must listen to their calls or risk losing the huge investments it has made in the rehabilitation of the project to Dr. Aligebam’s poor management.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director who has responded to the lamentations of the workers has dismissed all the allegations leveled against him.

He has denied everything including the harassment of workers with guns which created an unsafe environment for them and his involvement in any shady fertilizer deal. The MD stressed that he did not own a gun and has never brandished a gun at the company as stated by the workers.

He said he has committed himself to the development of the company since he took over as director and did not see any initiative, he undertook that has not been beneficial to the company. He denied putting personal gains above the interest of the company.

Dr. Aligebam mentioned that he has written to the workers union and was ready to engage them to address their issues. He added that he was very much concerned about the complains of harassments made against him and was going to call for an investigation into them.

“whatever these retained staff are saying, I find it quite flawed because I have not come to reduce any conditions of them, I have not raise up a pistol to anybody and that I am going to ask permission from the Board and to investigate through the Police armoury whether I own a pistol”. The director stated.