There are two sides of this issue – Akomea on STC Dep MD appointment matter

The Managing Director of the Intercity State Transport Company (ISTC), Nana Akomea has said that the board will look at the petition submitted by the workers against the appointment of a third deputy Managing Director.

He says he does not make those appointments hence the board will look into the latter.

Speaking in an interview with Johnnie Hughes on the Sunrise show on 3FM on Thursday, June 6, he said “They are not happy about a recent appointment.”

Asked why this appointment was made, he answered “You know that it is not a fair question to me because I didn’t make the appointment. The board is meeting with the unions they have petitioned the board we will deal with it at that point but I do not make the appointment.

“There are two sides, some of the workers are saying these new Deputy MDs we pay them GHS25, 000 a month, seven months, maybe we can use that money to defray SSNIT or we can use that money to defray provident fund, that is one side, now, we don’t have a lot of buses so we really don’t need these top appointees.

“On the other side somebody would say that these appointments are not additional appointments, it is a replacements. So those are the two sides and when we go to the board meetings with the workers we can deal with it.”

Workers of the State Transport Corporation (STC) are fiercely resisting the appointment of a third deputy managing director, describing it as a waste of public funds.

According to the workers, the two deputies already at post are enough.

They are, therefore, asking the corporation to prioritise acquiring more buses and settling some six million cedis in overdue pensions.

In the petition the workers explained that the company has “operated without a Deputy Managing Director for a considerable period; suggesting that the reduction in deputy managing directors will not adversely affect our operations”.

“It is imperative to emphasise the current challenges facing the company, particularly the dwindling fleet of operational buses. Presently, out of a total of 145 buses, only 39 are deemed roadworthy.

“This predicament is attributed to the inferior quality of the Daewoo buses acquired in 2020, resulting in frequent repairs and maintenance issues.
“Furthermore, we wish to draw attention to the outstanding provident fund contributions and other statutory deductions, which are significantly overdue, that is the Provident Fund arrears for about six years, the Tier 2 arrears totaling six months and the SSNIT deductions which are in arrears exceeding six million Ghana Cedis (GH¢6,000,000.00),” part of the petition addressed to the Board Chairman read.