A former Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, has told Citi Business News the recent labour agitations in the power sector will affect Foreign Direct Investments into the country.
He argues that the growing labour unrest demonstrates the lack of discipline and respect for law in the country.
“I do not know about the long term effect; all I know is that it is wrong, as it sends a wrong signal to anyone who wants to come to invest in the power sector or any other sector of the economy as there is no discipline among both workers and management,” he stated.
Workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) have embarked on a series of protests over possible job losses due to the ceding of part of management to a private entity.
The latest involved the two day sit down strike which ended Monday, September 5, 2016.
Though the ECG workers have been assured of job security at least within the first five years of the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) agreement, they are adamant that they will be eventually laid off with a new management.
Also, workers of the VRA have among other things demanded that the company’s CEO be sacked as they have questioned his management style.
According to the workers, the management of VRA has failed to protect the interest and survival of the authority in the attempted takeover of the MRP Plant, Kpone Thermal Power Plant (KTTP) Land, and the T3 Plant which they describe as key assets of the Authority.
But Dr. Wereko Brobby believes the respective managements of the ECG and VRA must step up their mandates to address what he describes as anarchy at the workplace.
“Many of us are not happy about what is happening in terms of the MIDA arrangement but those who have the responsibility must deal with it. This is anarchy in the work place and it shouldn’t have been allowed to happen,” the former VRA boss stressed.
Sack ‘striking’ workers
Meanwhile Dr. Wereko-Brobby maintains that the management of the ECG must take disciplinary measures against the workers involved in the agitations.
“It is not government that should be responsible; there are Managing Directors and Boards of Directors for the company and they must take action,” he noted.
According to him, sacking the affected workers will also be an option if need be.
“There are procedures in taking disciplinary action if it entails sacking, so be it, but I think we must stop this state of anarchy in our state enterprises and public institutions since it doesn’t do this country any good,” Dr. Wereko-Brobby added.
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