Control over Broadcasting House - first shot at GBC

A powerful missile fired with precision across the bow of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) has grazed dangerously some members of the management, bruising the Director-General (D-G), Mr Seth Agoe Adjetey, in the process and finally slamming fatally into the vulnerable bosom of the Board of Directors.

Attached to the missile is a load of documents comprising bad contracts allegedly signed with corrupt intent, statements detailing a string of malfeasance, incompetence and dishonesty. This venomous, deadly package is said to have been sent to President John Kufuor; somehow, mysteriously, a copy has fallen on the lap of The Ghanaian Chronicle.

The broaching of documents has deepened the Mafia gang war currently raging between the ‘Northern Caucus’ and the ‘Ga Mafia’ for control of the GBC. Because of its damaging nature, it is being speculated in officialdom that the documents might have been released with the aim of puncturing the defensive arsenal of the D-G and indeed the Ga hegemony.

One of such documents is a bogus agreement between BBC and GBC, while exposing the incompetence of not only the D-G, but the Board as well. It is a service provision agreement where the BBC ‘requested GBC to provide the BBC with certain monitoring services in relation to broadcast and print media in certain West and Central African countries.

GBC throughout the term of the agreement is providing and paying for the manpower, premises, electric power, internet connectivity and all other necessary facilities to operate the monitoring services, all for a peanut $20,000 a year. Details of this agreement reveal the imposition of a commanding responsibility on GBC to virtually maintain vigil over BBC’s equipment, produce transcripts round the clock and filing to BBC, monitor television sources in 13 West African Countries, “select and translate into English or transcribe, appropriate reports from such news agencies.”

From this same amount, GBC is “responsible for paying all taxes, duties, levies and any other taxes (including any value added taxes that may be applied) on all goods and services provided under this Agreement. This burdensome agreement, signed between the parties on 10 April 2001 again requires GBC to allocate at its own cost, “a reasonable number of staff, who will be carrying out Monitoring Services on the BBC’s behalf.”

The first part of the contract “relating to the broadcast of programmes of the BBC on FM in Accra” was signed by the former D-G, Dr Kofi Frimpong.

Insiders were decrying its unprofitability and thinking Kofi Frimpong, a lousy manager, and the accountant who was hired, did more of a bogus contract. He sold the corporation down the river in exchange for a free trip to BBC London. On return from BBC, both the D-G and the Director of Radio, Mr Yaw Addo, had their lifestyles undergoing dramatic improvement from the HIPC looking twosome to the jet-set.

Last week, the Board met and decided to sanction the D-G in strong language on the trip to London, which it did not authorise. Recently, one of the ‘Ga Mafia’ chieftains, Mr E.B.O. Mills, the director of Engineering, had to be fired as a grand cover-up. The sacking of Mills has behind it a tall tale of cronyism and love-lost between paddies.

In the beginning, Adjetey and Mills, belonging to the same gang were more than twins in scheming to bankrupt the corporation that has been given to them to manage. The two bought two Laptop computers under questionable circumstances from a travel agency in Tema, Discovery Travel & Tours Ltd., for ?36 million.

Unluckily, for them, a third computer deal, involving ?21 million, could not pass through due to a timely interception by the Director of Finance. “This procurement is not procedural, hence sort it out the right way. Can not be accepted here,” wrote Director of Finance.

Then again, the D-G despite strong denials and protestation from the Director of Finance, not only guaranteed but gave backing to the repairs of Mills’ rotten Benz car for ?17.37 million. A GBC letter, dated 18 January 2002, authorising Slycos Enterprise to supply spare parts for the car, affirmed that “payment of the above list of spare parts will be effected by the corporation,” adding that “full assurance has been given by the D-G to that effect.” The letter was signed and stamped by Mills, Director of Engineering.

Interestingly, when things started to get hot and the D-G, sensing the imminent demise of Mills and also recollecting his unpleasant days of incaceration for mismanagement of Tema Food Complex decided to go full throttle to dissociate himself from the dying Mills.

When Mills appeared before the Media Commission about ten days ago, he is said to have confirmed his close relationship with Mr Adjetey and lamented that he was shocked when things went bad. The D-G has not been honest to the Board as he kept denying knowledge of the laptops.

The Board itself is reeling from a scandal of conflict of interests by one of its members, Mr Kan Tamakloe, for supplying computers, which turned out to bee too expensive and bad. When the Chronicle quizzed Mr Tamakloe over this deal, he swaggered contemptuously, lecturing about how he fought for press freedom in this country and all that jazz. He refused to answer any questions concerning the computers.

Meanwhile, the senior management staff of GBC are taking turns to appear before an investigating team at the Serious Fraud Office to answer strong questions relating to promotions, like that of one Mrs Irene Boateng and the questionable qualification and recruitment of Wallace Bampoe-Addo, the Acting Director of Television.