Heavy Police Presence At Golden Tulip, Workers On Strike Again

There is heavy Police presence at the Golden Tulip hotel in Accra after more than 300 permanent and casual workers declared a sit down strike on Friday. The Police were called in to forestall any possible confrontation between the workers and management of the hotel. On Wednesday, September 24, an Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh granted an injunction application filed by the hotel�s management against 15 of the leadership of the workers, preventing them from coming onto the premises of the facility. The workers were angered on Friday after seeing four of the management members on the premises arguing that since the matter is in court, they also don�t expect them to visit the facility. On August 21, the workers staged a demonstration to protest against what they described as poor working conditions and the non-payment of salaries. Seven days later, the workers issued a statement accusing the Director of Finance and Administration, Ernest Asamoah and some other management members of the hotel of embezzling $ 15 million. They claimed that the money was to be used for the hotel�s renovation project, however, the hotel is still in a mess less than two years after the renovation. They therefore petitioned President John Mahama for the second time this year, to intervene and address the growing tension in the hotel. On September 1, the workers slammed the Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper, for turning a blind eye on allegations of embezzlement being leveled against managers of the hotel. The secretary of the local workers union, Henrietta Boakye told Citi Business News, the Finance Minister who doubles as the chairman of the board of the hotel must be proactive by alerting the President of the challenges the hotel was facing. They also demanded the setting up of a committee to investigate all the allegations.