Kalanick tapped Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox (XRX), and John Thain, former chief executive of Merrill Lynch.

“I am appointing these seats now in light of a recent Board proposal to dramatically restructure the Board and significantly alter the company’s voting rights. It is therefore essential that the full Board be in place for proper deliberation to occur,” Kalanick said in a statement.

Kalanick said he has “no doubt the Board will be well-served” by his appointees “as Uber moves into the next phase of growth and prepares for a public offering,” the statement reads.

Uber said in its own statement the move came as a “complete surprise.”

Related: Ursula Burns says it’s a ‘time of power’ for women in tech

“That is precisely why we are working to put in place world-class governance to ensure that we are building a company every employee and shareholder can be proud of,” the statement reads.

Kalanick, who left the CEO role in June amid a series of scandals, does have the right under the board’s current rules to make appointments.

But those rules are at the root of a lawsuit that’s currently in arbitration, and at the center of an ongoing controversy.

Benchmark, a venture capital firm that took an early stake in Uber, filed a complaint against Kalanick in August. It claims Kalanick withheld important, relevant information about the company’s scandals before the board voted to allow him to control three seats.

Related: Uber CEO to meet London transport boss as ban looms

According to a source familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Kalanick had not filled two of those board seats up until this point because he was “trying to respect” the legal process.

Kalanick was prompted to make the appointments this week, however, when he learned about a proposal by the company’s leadership and Goldman Sachs (GS), an Uber adviser.

Here’s what the measure includes, according to two sources close to the situation:

–It would revamp rules in a way that would eliminate special voting powers previously granted to some of Uber’s early investors. The move would shift a great deal of voting power away from Kalanick, though he still owns a large stake in the company.

–It would apply a deadline by which Uber must go public. And if by the deadline the board has not approved an initial public offering — but at least one-third of the board wants to move forward with an IPO — the approving board members can appoint new board members until they reach a majority.

–It would alter Kalanick’s control over his three board seats and shift more control to Dara Khosrowshahi, Kalanick’s replacement as Uber’s CEO. (Kalanick currently occupies one of the three board seats he controls. The proposal would not change that.)

The board may vote on the measure Tuesday.

Former board member David Plouffe said in a tweet posted Friday that the Trump White House “seems sane by comparison” to Uber’s corporate politics.

He also voiced his support for Khosrowshahi, saying he’s “confident Dara will find a way forward.”

–

Source: BBC

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Mr Kalanick will remain on the board of the ride-hailing firm, however.

His resignation comes after a review of practices at the firm and scandals including complaints of sexual harassment.

Last week he said he was taking an indefinite leave of absence following the sudden death of his mother in a boating accident.

‘Bold decision’

Five major Uber investors demanded Mr Kalanick’s immediate resignation in a letter on Tuesday, the New York Times said.

Mr. Kalanick reportedly said: “I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight.”

Uber’s board said in a statement: “Travis has always put Uber first. This is a bold decision and a sign of his devotion and love for Uber.

“By stepping away, he’s taking the time to heal from his personal tragedy while giving the company room to fully embrace this new chapter in Uber’s history. We look forward to continuing to serve with him on the board.”

‘Uphill climb‘

Dan Primack, business editor of the Axios news service, was one of the first to report the investor demands for Mr Kalanick to go.

Mr Primack said a group of investors, but particularly Bill Gurley of venture capitalist firm Benchmark, had put pressure on Mr Kalanick to resign.

“It’s important to note: Travis controlled the board in terms of votes, so really, it was a vey big uphill climb for [Mr] Gurley and the other investors to get this done,” Mr Primack said.

Uber’s future prospects were now “pretty bright”, Mr Primack added.

The firm has been searching for a chief operating officer, but now can seek out Fortune 500 chief executives to take over the top spot, he said.

Scandals

The ride-hailing company has had a series of recent controversies, including the departure of other high-level executives.

Eric Alexander, the former head of Uber’s Asia-Pacific business, left after a report that he had obtained the medical records of a woman who was raped by an Uber driver in 2014.

Mr Alexander reportedly shared them with Mr Kalanick, senior vice-president Emil Michael and others.

Mr Alexander was fired earlier this month, and Mr Michael later left Uber.

Board member David Bonderman made a sexist remark at a meeting about workplace practice recommendations last week and then resigned as a director.

In February Uber said it was investigating “abhorrent” sexual harassment claimsmade by former Uber engineer Susan Fowler.

This month Uber said it had fired more than 20 staff and had taken action against others following a review of more than 200 HR complaints that included harassment and bullying.

There has also been a lawsuit from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, over alleged theft of trade secrets related to driverless cars.

–

Source: BBC

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He expressed displeasure at the NPP’s decision, saying it is untenable.

‘’I think it’s very unfortunate the party has taken a partisan position on such all-important national issue; it’s very unfortunate as far as I am concerned,’’ he said.

The NPP on Monday announced that it will boycott the forum and directed all its members not to attend.

The party cited late receipt of invitation to the forum as reason for its boycott. The National Chairman 0f the NPP, Paul Afoko described the forum as a “PR gimmick”.

”We will not be part of a deliberate propaganda and PR gimmick, to hoodwink the good people of Ghana in the face of monumental hardships we have been subjected to,” he said during a press conference in Accra.

But Dr. Tamakloe said the significance of the forum is to collect ideas that will help the country out of the current economic difficulties. ”It is the duty of the party to [contribute towards this national agenda].”

He explained that the party’s reason given for the boycott is inadmissible and unimportant.

”I am not comfortable about [the action] of the party because this is a national [event]; once again you will have others attending and we will be out,” he noted.

Another NPP stalwart who also disagrees with position of the party is Mr. Yaw Osarfo Marfo, a former Finance Minister under the NPP administration.

Government, the private sector and cross section of the Ghanaian public will profess plans necessary to address defects in the economy at the first national economic forum scheduled for Tuesday.

The forum is aimed at achieving consensus on policies, strategies and measures to Ghana’s transition from a lower middle income nation to an upper middle income economy.

The theme for the forum is “Changing the Narrative: National Consensus for Social Transformation”.

By: Evans Effah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Former Chairman of the Ghana Football Association Dr Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe has expressed optimism about the chances of the Black Stars to progress out of group G which also has Portugal, Germany and the United States of America.

According to the outspoken former FA boss, the team are familiar with two of the opponents in our group having played them at different stages in the  previous World cup in south Africa.

“We have bright chances and there is no doubt  about that.we have played Germany before and they didn’t humiliate us,we have also beaten the United States on a couple of occasions”,he said in an interview with Citi Sports on Monday.

He described Portugal as the only strange opposition the Stars have to face but he stated that the would be over reliant on Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.

“The only team we have not met on this platform is Portugal and i do not think they will be a problem.They only operate around one key player Ronaldo.”

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