The Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF) has expressed worry over what it describes as attempts by management of the Agricultural Development Bank’s (adb) to frustrate its fight against corruption at the bank.
“We have always been told that if there is malfeasance, we should voice it for authorities to deal with it. This is the case where we are not blowing a whistle, its is virtually a vuvuzela that is being blown but unfortunately, the authorities are not taking the kind of action that the people expect,” said the General Secretary of the Union, John Esiape.
[contextly_sidebar id=”hGdU5m4Y6PefmxQaiCzlffsNogEIgzWe”]UNICOF is demanding the removal of the Managing of Director, Stephen Kpordzih and the dissolution of the board of the bank.
It says the call is to enable the Bank of Ghana conduct investigations into allegations of financial malfeasance levelled against the MD and the board.
On Thursday, UNICOF released a statement indicating that workers of adb had embarked on a strike but the Minister of Employment and Labour, Haruna Iddisru chastised the group for their action.
He told Citi News, Haruna Iddrisu that the workers argument to support the strike are not only misplaced but also “misinformed.”
However Esiape who is not enthused by the lackadaisical attitude of the management of adb and government towards recent developments at the bank said :”If indeed the authorities do not want us to do this, they should come out clearly and announce that even if you see any malfeasance anywhere don’t bring it up and we will stop this action tomorrow”
According to him, their decision to protest is justifiable since allegations of malfeasance had been confirmed by the bank’s MD at a recent press conference.
“Indeed, the issues that are raised have been confirmed by the MD in a press conference that they held.Some have been confirmed by the board as well. The questions and the answers that were provided, you just do an analysis and nobody will tell you that some of the issues have happened.”
Representatives of the workers, UNICOF had earlier asked for an independent audit to rather carry-out the investigations since the Bank of Ghana is not only a shareholder but also has representation on the same board it is supposed to investigate.
Mr. Esiape defended calls for an independent audit during a discussion on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, saying “the Bank of Ghana is a shareholder and some of the issues that have happened it[BoG] should have unravelled them long ago. If the regulator [BoG]5 didn’t see some of these things and it has to take such a struggle to let them go back to investigate then it is like going back to investigate themselves.”
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah