..Insist he is not qualified; tension mount
The Senior and Junior Staff Union of the Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) are up in arms with a petition against the nomination of one Collins Nuntwiri Nuamah as Deputy Managing Director, Finance and Administration (DMD, F&A) for the water distribution company.
He is said to be unqualified for the job. News of his coming, has sparked tension and gotten red flags hoisted at the headquarters of the company in Accra.
Mr Nuamah, 49, said to be a banker, is considered as an outsider to the operations of the GWCL, and according to the workers, they view his appointment with “shock and great apprehension” and have since petitioned Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah Dapaa, as well as the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Opare, against his nomination.
Aside the two, the Director General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GWCL, the Managing Director of GWCL, the workers representative of GWCL and the National Chairman of the Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) of TUC-Ghana. But The Herald’s information is that the appointment is being pushed from the Presidency, Jubilee House.
The petition, which is in the name of the National Secretariat of the Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) of TUC-Ghana and the National Division Executives Senior Staff and Junior Staff Union of the GWCL and signed by the General Secretary of the Public Utility Workers’ Union of TUC, Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi, hopes the two ladies, will do something about the matter.
Mr Nuamah, nicknamed “CNN” is said to be a prominent member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) who stood for a national executive election to be a National Treasurer, but was defeated. This appointment is, therefore, being seen as an act of compensation for him by someone inside the Jubilee House.
Interestingly, there is one Mr Abbey at GWCL, said to have had 20-years working experience and had been dutiful. He is said to have been acting for some time now and both management and the board, have been happy with his performance.
According to the Ghana Water workers, “the position of Deputy Managing Director, Finance and Administration requires a person who, among other qualifications and experience, should be a certified Chartered Accountant belonging to an accredited institute of Chartered Accountants. However “the information we have gathered indicates that Mr. Collins Nuntwiri Nuamah is not a chartered Accountant and is thus not qualified to be appointed as a Deputy Managing Director, Finance and Administration for GWCL”.
“In addition, within GWCL even the position of Chief Manager for Finance demands that the person selected must be a chartered accountant belonging to a recognized professional body of chartered accountants. It would therefore be anomalous and ludicrous for GWCL to be given a non-chartered accountant to superintend the work of subordinates who are qualified chartered accountants. This will create avoidable tension and chaos within the Company”.
Thirdly, “the board and management had intimated that the company is going through difficult financial situation. This is evidenced by the recent salary increment of 15% given to staff that has not created a lot of tension and anxiety within the Company. It is therefore not prudent for a Deputy Managing Director to be appointed for the Company from outside at a time like this. This financial position of the Company should inform prudent and judicious use of the scarce resources of the company.
Furthermore, the workers maintained that “considering the fact that there are equally capable and qualified persons within the Company, it is expected that the appointing authority should consider appointing a qualified person from within and not bringing someone from outside who is even not qualified”.
They insisted that “at a time when there is mounting arrears for utility companies, which has been exacerbated by the current economic challenges, the Company does not need persons with virtually no knowledge and experience in managing utilities at the top level hierarchy of the Company. Such an individual will take much time to learn the complex sector before even a qualified person’s effectiveness will be felt”.
In the light of the these, the General Secretary of the PUWU of TUC, Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi, demanded that the Ministers of the Sanitation and Water Resources intervene to ensure that the nomination of Mr Nuamah as Deputy Managing Director, Finance and Administration is withdrawn and further action should not be taken to result in the appointment of an unqualified person to sensitive and critical position.
“It is important to state that GWCL is currently working towards transforming the Company into an efficient utility entity, and we expect the shareholder and appointing authority to support such measures and not create situations that will negatively affect the progress of the Company”.
