Sale of GT is "insult" to Ghanaian ingenuity - Mills

Accra, Aug. 12, GNA - Professor John Evans Atta Mills, flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Tuesday slammed the NPP government's intention to off load 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone B.V. International for US$900 million, describing it as an "insult" to the ingenuity of Ghanaians.

Prof. Atta Mills was addressing a jubilant crowd of supporters at the entrance of Parliament House in Accra during a demonstration organised by the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), a pressure group, to protest against the GT deal.

He said the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) was creating a false impression about the opposition's protest against the sale of GT and noted that, the tolerance of dissenting opinions was very necessary for the growth of democracy in Ghana.

Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader in Parliament, announced to the crowd that the government had resolved to reconsider the terms of the sale of the shares in GT.

He said the announcement by government to reconsider the terms of sale of GT spelt out a partial victory for the opposition, adding, "every effort shall be made to ensure that the interest of Ghana is considered".

Mr Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of the CJA, criticised the manner in which government sold state companies without considering any alternatives to address the crisis such companies faced. He said there was no guarantee that GT would be better off when sold to a foreign company since the sale of some state-owned companies such as Ghana Airways had not yet yielded any positive results. Professor Atta Bintim, another member of the CJA, noted that there was enough competent human resource in the country and that changing the management of GT was a better option. He accused government of abusing the sovereignty of Ghanaians since it was bent on satisfying its interest and not the interest of the people of Ghana.