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General News of Tuesday, 17 August 2010

Source: Livingstone Pay Charlie

New Vodafone Boss Cracks Anti-Corruption Whip

-orders David Venn’s appendages to leave Ghana within 24 hours

By Livingstone Pay Charlie

New Vodafone boss, Mr. Whitehill Kyle, is in a no nonsense mood. Information available to Daily Post indicates that he has begun drastic restructuring at the managerial level of the telephony company. As a result, two apparatchiks of former Chief Executive, David Venn, have been ordered to leave the shores of Ghana within 24 hours.

They are Messrs Dell, Head of Fibre and Tony Dolton, who is the Chief Technical Officer.

On the part of Mr. Tony Dolton, Daily Post can confirm that he will be replaced by one Mr. Valentine. According to sources, the expatriate staff put in place by the former CEO joined forces to make sure that huge monies were spirited away under the guise of contracts to cosmopolitan Europe. Most of the contracts were awarded to cronies without tender and nobody dared question that arrangement under Mr. Venn. Vodafone workers have hailed the drastic action taken by the new CEO. They told this reporter if Mr. Kyle continues from the point that he started from, the company’s fortunes will bounce back to level pegging.

The workers expressed optimism that the disciplined attitude of Mr. Kyle will assist him to put in place a new dedicated and committed management team. Sources hinted this paper that many more of the expatriate staff appointed by Mr. Venn will be sent packing in the next few days. During Mr. Venn’s tenure, local workers were victimized on an unprecedented scale.

Two months ago, the Venn-led expatriate staff increased their salaries by 500 percent and gave the Ghanaian workers a paltry 33 percent increment. Some of the union leaders were also warned not to press management again for any salary increases. Vodafone acquired 70 percent shares in Ghana Telecom for US$900 million under the Kufuor administration. This was after much public outcry. The government of Ghana now retains only 30 percent shares.