Ghana Post workers call for investigation as union alleges embezzlement
The Workers Union of Ghana Post Company Limited (GPCL) has called on the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to instruct the appropriate authorities to investigate alleged misappropriation of funds at Ghana Post.
Advertisement
According to the Divisional Chairman of Ghana Post, Mr Phoyon Isaac Bruce-Mensah, about GH¢100,000 had allegedly been paid to some high-ranking officials of the company as allowance in advance, adding that over GH¢53 000 had also been paid to the Information Technology (IT) Department to replace a malfunctioning computer server to enable the company to deliver its services.
In spite of such huge payouts, Mr Bruce-Mensah said retirees of the company had not received their retirement benefit.
“There are several issues bothering the staff of GPCL so the government has to step in, or else the company will collapse,” he said.
Retirement benefits
Mr Bruce–Mensah explained that workers were entitled to their retirement benefits, but since 2012, retirees had not received their benefits which was frustrating and had caused the early death of some of them.
He again complained that “a ridiculous amount of money was paid to the IT Department to buy prepaid credits for a project which did not come off, but the IT director did not refund the money and the items were not seen after the project was brought to a halt.”
He also alleged that “IT director was told to buy a headphone which cost GH₵81; that headphone was GH₵23 on the market. He bought 200 of them; as it stands 40 are in stock and the remaining ones are nowhere to be found.”
“When you ask him he cannot give any reasonable answer,” he reiterated.
According to Mr Bruce–Mensah, some high-ranking officials of the company have conspired to embezzle funds of the company.
Solicitor responds
The Company Solicitor, Mr Kwasi Adjenim-Boateng, said he could not comment on the allegations levelled against the officials because he was not privy to them.
He confirmed to the Daily Graphic that an amount of GH₵53,000 was paid to Premium SMS Ghana to maintain Ghana Post server after management had complained of its breakdown.
“The IT director brought an invoice of five different companies but Premium SMS Ghana was selected because their bill was the lowest, so we had to go in for it,” he said.
According to him, after the payment, there were complaints that the money paid to them was huge, but he said he was not in a position to tell whether the amount was too much or not.
He stated that after the complaints, management asked him to conduct an investigation which was still ongoing.