Ghana Publishing Corporation gets first board in 20 years

Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, said on Thursday that the government would not neglect the Ghana Publishing Corporation in view of its strategic role in terms of printing vital state documents such as Laws, Acts of Parliament and policy documents. He noted that because the Corporation had been without a board for the past 20 years, it had affected its effective management leading to a virtual liquidation of some of its vital divisions in 1994.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said this when he inaugurated an eight-member GPC Board. The Minister said the Victoriaborg Press, a division of the GPC, was sold out to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the resources used to refurbish the Assembly Press. However, the Corporation still had a debt of 2.5 billion cedis as against 308.7 million cedis owed it by debtors.

Additionally, he said, the Assembly Press had not paid a 2.5 million dollars loan guaranteed by the government for its refurbishment. The Minister said the Tema Press, also a division of the GPC, which had the biggest press south of the Sahara, had been put on divestiture but no investor had shown interest in it because most of its valuable assets had been sold off to pay workers.

The Minister said the Corporation had the potential to produce on commercial basis to serve not only Ghana but also neighbouring countries. With a little effort, the GPC could print examination papers with appropriate security guarantee since it had in the past printed ballot papers, Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said.

He urged members of the Board to team up with the Management to be business-like and move into the open market and compete for "floating jobs". Mr Vincent Ate Ofosu-Amaah, Chairman of the Board, expressed the hope that with the support of the staff and the Ministry, the fortunes of GPC could be turned around.

The other members of are Mr J. K. Boateng, Managing Director of Ananse Systems Limited, Mr David Larbi, a marketing consultant, Mr Emmanuel K. Teye, Member of Parliament for Ashaiman and Mr Miguel Ribeiro, a legal consultant. The others are Nana Oforiwah Koranteng, a development economist, Mr J. K. Fuachie-Sobreh, Acting Managing Director of GPC and Dr Ernest Asiedu Osafo, a retired civil servant.