Workers’ strike cripples ADB

The strike by the workers was meant to press home their demand for the removal of the Managing Director, Mr Stephen Kpordzih, and the dissolution of the board.

According to the workers, they had been compelled to take the decision as a result of the unwillingness of the government to ask the managing director and the board to step aside as the Bank of Ghana investigated allegations of financial malfeasance and conflict of interest levelled against them.

Customers’ fury

Although the workers at some of the branches of the bank resumed work after four hours of action, they could not escape the anger and frustration of many customers of the bank, reports Seth J. Bokpe in Accra.

Angry, some of the customers said the action of the workers was unacceptable.

“This is not acceptable. When the staff have a problem, it should not affect customers. I’m a businessman and they’ve just thrown my plans out of gear today,” an angry customer told the Daily Graphic.

As of 11.15 a.m. yesterday, the Adabraka, Achimota and Ring Road branches of the bank were not opened. However, by 12.05 p.m. when the Daily Graphic visited the Nima branch, it had been opened but with only four customers in the banking hall.

At the bank’s head office on the Independence Avenue, the branch had been opened but with a few customers in the banking hall.

At the Adabraka branch, customers with cheques had to leave because the branch had been locked up, with a piece of red cloth hanging at the entrance.

A security man, whose name tag identified him as Ransford Odoi, said the staff were in a meeting.

Tamale

From Tamale, Suweiba Yakubu reports that customers of the bank were stranded yesterday following a sit-down strike.

Some customers who had called at the Tamale main branch of the bank could not access banking services nor withdraw money.

Ms Judith Marfo, who had come to the bank to withdraw money for her brother who was living in Kumasi to pay his rent, was stopped from entering the banking hall by a security man.

Ms Marfo, who was visibly frustrated, said, “I am from a very far place and do not know what to do, since my brother may be ejected from his house. I will wait for a while.”

Mr Dubik Yamboar, a customer of the bank, said he did not know where else he would turn to, since he was in desperate need for money to buy a ticket for a journey in the evening.

Donald Ato Dapatem reports from Kumasi that workers of some branches of the bank, however,  did not take part in the strike.

They were seen busily working, contrary to the action taken by their colleagues in Accra and other parts of the country.

At the main Kumasi branch on the Prempeh II Street at Adum, there were tellers in the cages, with customers sitting in the banking hall.

When the Daily Graphic managed to meet the manager in her office, she had this to say: “I have not been authorised to speak and so I can’t comment on anything.”

Return to work

Meanwhile, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has denied claims concerning the extension of Mr Kpordzih’s contract for another three years, as was being speculated, reports Charles Benoni Okine.

“As far as I know and as far as the government is concerned, there has not been any such thing. I have made my checks from other sources and there is no such thing,” he said.

Consequently, he challenged the leadership of UNICOF to produce evidence of the letter extending the contract of the ADB boss.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the minister called on the workers of the bank to return to work while the various grievances raised were addressed.

On whether the government had showed good faith to the workers, he replied in the affirmative, saying, “They raised issues about the sale of the ADB House and we placed that on hold; they raised issues about the initial public offer of the bank and we stopped it, pending further negotiations with the workers.”

Mr Iddrisu said with all that good faith exhibited by the government, he was utterly shocked by the action taken by the workers and their leadership because it was illegal.

“On Wednesday, we met with the workers and the management. We gave out a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) for each party to study and make inputs, and so I am shocked that they have taken this action without recourse to their management, the board and the government. That is in violation of the labour laws and, therefore, unacceptable,” he said.

He said the Bank of Ghana and an independent body had been issued with an ultimatum to further investigate the allegation of malfeasance, the issues about the IPO and any other matters, saying that “based on the report of that investigation, the government will take a decision on the matter”.

Mr Iddrisu reiterated his call for the strike to be called off to allow customers of the bank to have access to its services.

Impact on ADB’s image

The bank rebranded a couple of years ago to win the trust and confidence of the public as a formidable bank with new ways of doing things.

It has also, over the years, demonstrated its ability to ride the storm, in spite of the fierce competition within the banking industry, until a myriad of allegations, including conflict of interest and corruption, were levelled against the board and the management.

The brouhaha

The ADB has been in the eye of a storm over the payment of a GH¢5.6-million, six-month rent advance, which translates into a monthly rent of GH¢1 million, including furnishing, for office space at the new Accra Financial Centre (AFC).

It is also said to be paying $37 per square metre and is currently occupying over 7,000 square metres of space at the new centre.

Besides, it has paid a lease deposit of GH¢7,518,640 to the AFC for the occupancy of the building.

This means that the money will not generate any interest income, since it will not be used to trade but will sit idle with the AFC until ADB moves out of the centre.

The workers also accuse the managing director of abandoning his official residence to stay in his own house and charging the bank a monthly rent allowance of $4,000.

Mr Kpordzih’s bonus and salary package and the selling of the bank’s assets cheap are part of a flurry of allegations the workers tendered against him, justifying calls for his removal.

The bank was to offload a little over 100 million shares, representing 75 per cent ownership of the bank, to raise about GH¢300 million through an IPO.

But Mr Kpordzih has strenuously denied the allegations, a move which has still not gone down well with the workers.