Ghana Telecom fires back!

The Crusading Guide says the Ghana Telecom (GT), reacting to a story in the August 21 - 27, 2001 edition of the paper, says, “Allowances paid ex-Board chairman and members were legitimate and not as ‘fat’ as alleged,” by the paper.

The GT’s rebuttal was contained in a rejoinder by Mr J. Tetteh-Addy, Head/Corporate Communications (for Managing Director) and faxed to the office of the paper on September 3, 2001.

The paper had reported that GT’s “previous board members were feeding fat on its revenues citing the chairman, Major-General Henry Anyidoho collecting ?10 million a month as allowance with other members pocketing a monthly figure of ?9 million.

The paper had stated also that the company had in February and March this year, bought 16,459 wooden poles, costing ?2.2 billion from Takoradi based Nobco Ltd, and that two of GT’s senior accounts officers were close to the owners of the timber firm. The poles, according to the story, are lying idle in a bush.

The GT in its reaction maintained that although the company by its policy does not allow the disclosure of allowances/salaries paid its Board of Directors and Employees of the company other than the parties involved, “we wish to assure our stakeholders that all allowances paid the ex-Board Chairman and other members were duly approved by the shareholders in accordance with the Companies’ Act (Act 179 of 1963) and that they were not as ‘fat’ as was alleged.”

Reacting to allegations of supplying free mobile phones to a particular party, GT said, it had made supplies to some corporate bodies, business houses and other identifiable groups including some members of the NDC when conducting a test transmission before commercialising its ONEtouch GSM mobile service.

The statement said, the recipients, after the exercise, were given the option to purchase the sets and settle the bills arising out of the usage adding that, “we find nothing wrong with this normal business promotional practice”.

The GT said in relation to the wooden poles also that in July 1998, it opened to tender the supply of telegraphic teak and Nobco and another company, Oguapem, out of nine bidders won, upon which they were awarded the contract on October 30 that year.

“Both contractors executed the contract. Thus simply put, Nobco and Oguapem were chosen out of merit and not because they had some links with senior officials of the company,” the GT stated.

However, in a full publication of an intercepted letter which the paper described as ‘documentary proof of “Fat Allowances” meant for the Chief Inspector of Taxes, the Crusading Guide revealed that H.K. Anyidoho took ?40.392 million after tax deductions for the period January to April, 2001.

For other members of the board in the same period, S.A. Mills-Robertson had ?30.392 million after tax, Dato Muhammad Razdi Mansor, ?25.704 million; Joseph Salang, ?25.704 million; Alhaji Seidu Sulemana, ?2.448 million and Lai Ki Tong ?2.448 million.