Emmanuel Akli and Phyllis D. Osabutey
25 July 2008
Information picked up by The Chronicle, from last Wednesday's meeting organised by the staff of the Ghana Telecom (GT), has revealed that the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Mr. Dickson Oduro-Nyaning, religiously defended the Vodafone deal, which has generated a lot of debate, both in Parliament and the public domain. Mr. Oduro reportedly told the workers that if the Vodafone deal were rejected, it would spell doom for the company, because they would not get such a deal anywhere.
According to him, Ghana Telecom has always been begging for money, and that there was the need to accept the present deal with Vodafone, to inject more capital to the operations of the company.
Justifying the sale to the workers, Nyaning, who was reportedly not happy with the way public discourse about the deal was going, said Vodafone had about 269 million customers, and an equity interest in 26 countries, and a joint venture with 40 other companies.
He emphasised that Vodafone was not only in the United Kingdom (UK), but also in Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Holland, India, etc. On the African continent, they are in Egypt, Kenya and South Africa.
The CEO emphasized that GT was competing with international companies like MTN, Zain, TIGO and Glomobile, but GT was operating only in Ghana, thus making it easier for the aforementioned companies to overtake it, in terms of call-roaming charges.
He warned the staff that laxity should be a thing of the past, since no investor would inject $900 million and sit down unconcerned, when workers were not giving off their best.
With regards to retrenchment, The Chronicle source at the meeting said the CEO made it clear, that the Vodafone team had not taken any decision to sack any employee.
He, however, advised the staff to work hard, to justify why they were being paid at the end of every month.
Representatives of the Vodafone group, who attended the meeting, assured the workers that they were bringing the best to the company, since they had the expertise to do so. They promised to ensure the growth of rural telephony, in addition to introducing Vodafone's own mobile handset, which would be very cheap.
According to them 25 to 40 dollars would be the cost of the handset. They would also introduce a money transfer system.
Our source further quoted the Vodafone representatives, as saying that the company, at the moment, had a staff strength of 72,000.
It made £35.5 billion in 2007.
A power point presentation, showed how Vodafone was the market leader in Kenya (73%) and South Africa 56%, while MTN is 34%.
The government of Ghana has sold 70 per cent shares of GT to Vodafone, which has generated a lot of debate in the print and electronic media.
The Public Affairs Manager of GT, Major Don Kyebi, confirmed, in a telephone contact yesterday, that the CEO had met with the workers.
He said there were so many stories, circulating about the intended sale, so the meeting afforded the staff to opportunity, to also ask questions and seek clarifications.
He, however, said the meeting was not called, because of the intended sale of the company, and that it was a normal durbar of workers, which they called quarterly.
Meanwhile the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has described government's decision to sell off 70% of Ghana Telecom (GT), to Vodafone International Holdings BV, for $900 million as strange, criminal and inimical to the interest of Ghanaians.
The group says the deal is obnoxious, considering the fact that government was giving away the Fibre-optic Network of the Volta River Authority (Voltacom), National Fibre-optic Backbone, financed by a Chinese loan and has not yet been completed, in addition to GT's fixed network, Onetouch Mobile Services, and exZeed Call Services.
A member of the CJA, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who read the speech on behalf of the Committee, noted that by this transaction, Vodafone would become a private monopoly in the fixed line business, comprising landlines, carrier services and SAT 3, which is the international submarine fibre-optic gateway, and the biggest telecom player in Ghana.
This, he said, was contrary to the interest of Ghanaians, particularly, because Ghana was a country with weak regulatory framework, saying, "the NPP government has not told the people of Ghana the whole truth about this dubious transaction."
According to him, Vodafone was a failing company, that had lost 14% of its value, while facing major problems in the global telecommunications market, and wondered why a company that government claimed was in debt, would be handed over to another company in distress.
"We wish to state emphatically, that Vodafone is not the 'Mr. Fix it', which the proponents of the GT deal claim it is," he maintained.
He said the CJA found it strange that the government was able to find US$186.4 million, for the celebration of the country's independence anniversary, "the decoration of the President and his friends with medals", the purchase of two presidential jets, and the building of a presidential palace, but could not find creative ways to service GT's indebtedness of US$400 million.
He further expressed shock that the NPP government, in January 2001, forgave Westel, an American company, regulatory penalties to the tune of US$72 million, but could not do the same for a company that belonged to the people of Ghana.
"It is even more strange, that the Government has decided to sell off a valuable state asset, because it is indebted to the Government of Ghana," he stressed, and added, "we are at a loss to understand why our national leaders, whenever they are faced with financial difficulties, should decide to sell the 'family loom'."
This, he indicated, had been caused by the belief that Ghanaians do not have the skills to be able to manage their own resources, which has led to the transfer of the management of vital state institutions, like the Ghana Water Company, to foreign managers.
This has led to dire consequences for the state and its people, he further stated.
The CJA member questioned if Ghanaians were incapable of managing their own affairs, including basic necessities as water and telephone provisions, after fifty one years of independence, stressing, "the justification for the sale to Vodafone International B.V., can only reinforce the neo-colonial complex of inferiority, which has engulfed national decision-making for some time now.
"Clearly, the facts do not support this belief, anchored on the "house-nigger" mentality," he emphasized. Furthermore, the group accused the government of engaging in public a deception, particularly, its claim that the sale was subjected to tender, in line with the Public Procurement Act 2003, challenging the government to indicate where they publicized the offer, and which other companies made bids.
They averred, "The transaction has obviously been carried out with such haste, as to leave vital state institutions and the people, gasping for breath," and argued that the transaction should have been undertaken with the knowledge of the National Communications Authority, and other key players in the communications industry
They, therefore, demanded government to make a full disclosure, to Ghanaians, as well as allow them sufficient time to consider all the issues, to "ensure that Ghana Telecom is not sold for a song."
Samuel Ablakwa, flanked by Messrs Kwesi Pratt and Felix Kwakye Ofosu, all members of the CJA, called on Ghanaians to remain alert, because 70% of a strategic state-owned company, with tremendous potential, was being handed over to a foreign company, without due regard to national economic, political and strategic interest.
"If Ghanaians do not remain alert, we will be sleep-walking into slavery, from which we shall never wake up," they cautioned, and pledged their commitment to hold public fora across the country, to facilitate meaningful discussions on the deal.
If government fails to listen to the people, "the CJA remains firmly committed to mass mobilization to reverse this obnoxious deal, and we shall continue our agitation and mobilization, until the deal is unconditionally revoked," they reiterated.
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