Corporate and investment lawyer, Joe Aboagye Debrah has told Citi Business News government must take a decision on whether to keep the MD of ADB or fire him as calls for his dismissal intensifies.
The Union Of Industry and Finance Workers (UNICOF) which is championing his removal and the dissolution of the bank’s board told Citi Business News they will only back down on their decision to demonstrate against the management of ADB bank if the board and MD resign honorably from their positions.
General Secretary of UNICOF, John Esiape says a new date to demonstrate will be announced after a meeting with the Executive Committee of UNICOF later this week.
”The decision is that we are unable to reconsider and the wisdom in our interaction with our members is that the decision that government has taken on the matter needs to be supported by us in taking those actions we have planned and if in all these matters government has reversed some decisions and actions by government and the board, then clearly this attest to the fact that they have not acted well and they must bow out honorably.”
UNICOF’s latest stand is despite government’s intervention through the Employment and Labour Relations Ministry for the Union to reconsider their planned industrial action in a bid to ensure sanity in the bank’s operations.
The workers are opposing the sale of the bank’s headquarters and the sale of shares of the bank as well as the continuous stay in office of the bank’s MD and board.
Corporate and investment lawyer, Joe Aboagye Debrah tells Citi Business News the larger responsibility lies with government to decide on whether or not to make some changes in the bank’s board to ensure smooth operations at ADB.
”Assuming the workers had a problem with management then they would have directed this call at the board but they seem to also have a problem with the board itself and when it happens like that, the next forum for redress would have been the AGM or the shareholders and because this is the kind of entity that is owned by government that is why maybe the call was directed at them (government).”
Mr Aboagye Debrah adds that since the workers have issues with both the management and the board, ”it now behooves government to study the claims being made to know its legitimacy if there is and correct them”.
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By: Lorrencia Nkrumah/citifmonline.com/Ghana