Changes Cause Uproar At Ports Authority

The transfer of the chief security officer to another department has caused an uproar at the Ghana Ports and Habours Authority (GPHA) and is being interpreted as politically motivated.

On their part, the management says the change is to ensure good returns on investment.

Speaking to Public Agenda on telephone, Akuamoah Boateng of the Public Relations Department, said the former security chief, Captain (Rtd) A. R. Cudjoe has not been sacked as is being alleged.

"We have seen the performance of the club as mediocre and want him to take full charge and transform it ...It is very important for us, we pumped a lot of money into the club," Boateng explained.

He said Captain Cudjoe has merely been transferred to another department. Currently Captain Cudjoe has been asked to take charge as the acting Chief Executive of the company's football team GHAPOHA.

Before the new directives, the acting chief security officer was playing the role of the acting chief executive of the club in addition to his normal duties.

A letter making the rounds in media houses alleged that Captain Cudjoe, formerly in charge of security at the Tema Port, had been removed because he is a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Captain Cudjoe contested for the Sekondi Constituency seat on the ticket of the NDC during the 2000 general election, but lost to the incumbent MP Papa Owusu Ankomah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The anonymous letter, carried by some newspapers alleged that the company's action was upon instructions from the NPP government and warned that the government would lose the next elections if the trend of victimisation continued.

The company denied any political under hand dealings. The public relation officer said the company does not have its own policy on members of staff who have political ambitions. "We are guided by the national policy on joining political parties." Boateng said. "We want the football club to do well to warrant the money put in, like other subsidiaries of the GPHA."

When Public Agenda finally reached Captain Cudjoe on phone, he was slightly upset about the incidence. He wished the matter had not been publicised, explaining that the issue is a bit complex.

He said he has not been interdicted as is being alleged, but only had a change in position which is part of the re-oganisation of the corporation.

"I think the problem is misunderstanding of what is taking place at the company," he said. He described "as just coincident" the fact that the change occurred soon after the elections.

He said, while he was acting chief security office, he was also acting chief executive of the football club of the company. "Now management wants me to take full charge of the team and make it more formidable than in the past," he said. "If some people do not accept that, that is their problem...It is their constitutional right to feel the way they feel and I respect them," he added.

He said he does not think the change is vindictive. "I am not the only person who has been changed," he said. He mentioned the estate manager, and two others, one from Takoradi and the other from Tema who have swapped positions. "I do not ascribe any politics to the changes."