Ghana Telecom - support for Vodafone

GT Staff Stamp Vodafone Deal

A group of Ghana Telecom (GT) workers, acting as representatives of both senior and junior staff of the company, have openly thrown their weights behind the endeavour by the Ghana government to offload 70 percent of its shares in the company to a British telecommunications company, Vodafone.

The expression of solidarity with the deal was contained in a release to the media in Accra yesterday. The release, dated August 7, 2008, and signed by the Chief Manager of the company, William Agyei, and Heny Whyte, Head of Revenue Assurance and Fraud Department, noted that recapitalization of GT through the Vodafone is very timely, stressing that any further delay would not be in anybody’s interest. “As one of the key stakeholders of Ghana Telecom, we deem it fit and appropriate to clarify some of the misconceptions and misinformation that have been put into the public domain by those who oppose the GT-Vodafone deal and set the records straight”, it said.

According to the concerned staff, they have decided to join the fray after critically following and taking note of all the debates in the media. “It is important to note that the survival of GT goes beyond just the capital as is being speculated by a section of the public. The current dynamics of the telecommunications business worldwide and particularly in Ghana makes it almost a mandatory requirement for any telecom operator who wants to survive in the industry in Ghana to belong to an international group due to the advantages associated with such partnerships”.

The release pointed out that the last National Communications Authority (NCA) ratings indicated that the quality of GT/Onetouch services to its customers are not the best, and that there is the need to get new equipment if it hopes to stay in the current competition in the industry. “GT and for that matter, Onetouch is losing some of its lucrative customers to competition because we do not belong to a group. For example, Onetouch lost its Nestle corporate account three months ago because MTN gave them a package Onetouch could not match,” they lamented, adding that a number of staff had already left for greener pastures with other GT competitors, with more planning to move.

They therefore urged Parliament to ratify the agreement as soon as possible to save the company from imminent collapse. It would be recalled that in order to save GT the further agony of sinking into worthlessness, government recently expressed its determination to offload 70 percent of its shares in the company to Vodafone, a British telecommunications giant, for a total of US$900 million on a debt-free cash-free basis. This has generated a lot of brouhaha, particularly in political circles, but the workers say it is a good deal.