Tension At Ghana Water Company

By Solomon Davids

As Managers Victimize Workers For Speaking To Ministers

Tension is gradually brewing at Ghana Water Company Ltd.(GWCL), following a recent visit by the two Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr. Hannah Bissiw and Alhaji Saani Idi, to the Kpong headworks of Ghana Water Company Ltd. Some employees of the company are being subjected to victimization and intimidation, against the warning the two ministers gave on that day. Their sin is that they spoke to the Ministers about the goings-on in the company. On the 1st October 2009, the two Deputy Ministers paid an impromptu visit to the headworks to check on an earlier promise made by Mr. Charles A. Brobbey, Regional Production Manager, to resolve some of the defects on the equipment at the place within two weeks.

To their surprise, four months on, nothing had been done about it. They therefore expressed their anger and warned the Managers against any act of victimization against members of staff who offered information to the Ministers, as has been the practice.

However, after their departure, the managers have resorted to intimidation and victimization against the workers who legitimately spoke to the Ministers, accusing them of speaking to the media.

One of the persons targeted by Mr. Charles A. Brobbey, is Libanus Quanson, Senior Technical Assistant and Branch Chairman of Public Utilities Workers Union, who spoke on that day from the staff perspective on the issue. Libanus Quanson, who was supposed to be on leave during the visit, had been called back by Mr. David Asimah Foli, his Head of Department, to take up relive duties, so he had the opportunity to speak to the Ministers on behalf of the Union.

This did not go down well with Mr. Brobbey, who described the act as “gross acts of indiscipline” meriting disciplinary action.

In a letter dated 5th October 2009, intercepted by The Daily Democrat, Mr. Brobbey accused him of breaching a Declaration of Secrecy signed by employees under the Junior Staff Collective Bargaining Agreement (JSCBA), requesting him to respond by the 9th October 2009 or face disciplinary action. In his response, Mr. Quanson explained that he spoke to the Ministers in his legitimate capacity as Branch Chairman of Public Utilities Workers Union on behalf of workers, as requested by the Dr Hannah Bissiw.

He accused the Manager of breaching Article 1, 3 of the JSCBA, which frowns on Victimization of an employee by another employee.

The workers, among other things, are calling for the restoration of Production Centres and Regional Officers, which were all dissolved by AVRL for unknown motives.

The battle swords have been drawn and unless the authorities intervene, Ghana Water Company Ltd. would explode soon, with the level of anger brewing among workers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Andrew Barber, Managing Director of Aqua Vitens Rand Ltd (AVRL) has been forced to resigned and has since left for South Africa. Mr. Kweku Botwe, Managing Director of GWCL has been asked to proceed on leave from the company. Stay tuned.