Board Chairman of the Ghana Water Company Limited, Mr. Alex Afenyo Markin has incurred the wrath of workers of the company over his stealthy attempt to appoint a third deputy managing director (in charge of Special Projects) as the company is already saddled with financial burden of the two DMDs.
According to the workers “appointment of a Deputy Managing Director (Special Projects) is a needless duplication of duties and a recipe for confusion at the top hierarchy of the company. The financial cost with the appointment however the quantum is an avoidable cost.”
A copy of a resolution intercepted by this paper, challenging the appropriateness of the appointment stated that “most companies, in this modern era, are taking strategic steps to reduce the bureaucratic layers at the top. Thus the appointment of a third DMD (Special Projects) where there is one for operators and another for finance and administration is not in line with best practices for corporate governance”.
Already workers are increasingly worried about the company’s struggling economy and fear this additional responsibility will further exacerbate their plight. PUWU earlier raised concerns about GWCL’s substantial $700 million debt arising from the desalination deal as a major financial challenge to the company.
This paper is also reliably informed that the company owes the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) some GH600m in bills.
Against this backdrop, the workers have urged the Board Chair to channel his energies to areas that would help ameliorate the plight of the company rather than the haste to appoint a DMD.
Although the resolution was addressed to the sector Minister, Mr. Kofi Adda, this paper was informed that, Mr. Afenyo Markin summoned members of the Union to a meeting to listen to their concerns.
However, the meeting ended in a stalemate as the Board Chairman called the bluff of the workers and dared them to go back and resign from the company if they are not comfortable with the decision to make Mr. Peter De-Veev a DMD.
In the midst of the controversy, the Union still wants to know what the supposed special projects that GWCL is embarking on which are beyond the caliber of the company’s existing engineers.
Meanwhile, speculations are rife in some circles that government is bent on creating the non-existent position with the aim of swindling the company.
Apart from the Board Chairman, the secretary to the President, the Chief of Staff and the Managing Director of the Company were also copied as the workers expressed optimism that the appointing authorities will look at the issue from a broader perspective with the interest and progress of GWCL as the paramount determinant.
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