A number of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) staff, are seething with anger over what they see as a weak Senior Staff Association (SSA) that appears compromised and playing puppets in the hands of the beleaguered Acting Chief Executive, Opoku Ahwenee Danquah.
The anger of the staff, stems from the fact that, while the Ag. CEO leaned on their association executive to issue the statement, it was only after the publication of the statement that they realised the boss had his own statement and only used theirs to make them accomplices.
Internal correspondence among the staff, cited by The Herald and affirmed by other staff of the national oil company, show a lot of disappointment in the executives, especially, as unlike previous executives, they did not consult staff before issuing the statement in their name.
The Herald’s insiders, have revealed that the main reason for putting pressure on the SSA to attempt to douse the fire engulfing Danquah was to attempt staying the hand of the GNPC Board, which after an initial hesitation, had decided to look into the issues raised in the petition by the concerned staff.
Meanwhile, within hours after the release of the said statement, the ‘Concerned Staff of GNPC’, expressed utmost shock at the statement that sought to express staff support for the Acting CEO.
They insist that the statement was issued under “duress” and therefore called on the authorities petitioned, including the Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, the GNPC Board among others, to conduct covert operations to ascertain the veracity of the claims made in the petition and ignore the attempt by the SSA to cover up for the tyrannical management of the Ag. CEO.
The release confirms that the cracks among the workers of GNPC continue to widen. “Concerned Staff of GNPC” expressed its “utmost shock and dismay” at the statement released by SSA of GNPC in support of the Acting CEO.
They insisted that the recent statement issued by SSA declaring support for Mr. Danquah, was done under “duress”.
The “Concerned Staff of GNPC” who recently petitioned the Board led by Freddie Blay accusing the CEO of poor management style was emphatic “the SSA is not the sole mouthpiece of GNPC staff and cannot speak on behalf of all staff. It must be noted that the SSA membership has been clearly defined with deputy managers as the cut off level”.
In a counter statement issued in reaction to the SSA’s statement in support of the CEO, they clarified that the “there are other junior staff who do not belong to the SSA”.
The statement added that the “Concerned Staff of GNPC” admitted that “the SSA in their statement also denied any receipt of a complaint or grievance” but said that “while this is true, the Concerned staff are not obliged to register their concerns through the SSA who have been too silent and to somewhat compromised to take any meaningful action regarding the erratic behaviour of the Ag. CEO”.
They noted that “it is unfortunate that the SSA sees the petition from the Concerned staff as unprofessional conduct. We wish to state that their failure to call Mr Danquah to order which has created a heavy culture of silence in the Corporation is the reason why well-meaning staff have resorted to registering their displeasure anonymously.
They added that “the SSA Executives are very much aware of the tension in the corridors of the Corporation as a result of the unprofessional manner in which the CEO in meetings literally goes punch to punch with senior management. They are aware of the seemingly lack of motivation, idleness and the multiple layers of bureaucracy that has almost brought operations in the Corporation to a halt.
“Whiles the SSA makes reference to the Conditions of Service in addressing grievances, it failed to address the “career disruption and destruction” transfers being undertaken by the Ag. CEO against the Corporation’s HR policy. We wish to state that the said petition emanated from staff of the Corporation and duly distributed to the Board.
“We call on the relevant authorities (Minister of Energy, Minister of National Security, the GNPC Board, etc.) to conduct covert operations to ascertain the veracity of the claims made in the petition and ignore the attempt by the SSA to cover up for the tyrannical management of the Ag. CEO.
“Concerned Staff of GNPC” are mentioned to be loyalists of Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong, the immediate past CEO of the GNPC.
