Excitement greets GT, Vodafone 1st meeting (Front Page)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
THE atmosphere was that of excitement when workers of Ghana Telecom (GT), including those from the regions, had their first official meeting with a team from Vodafone UK at a workers’ durbar in Accra yesterday.
The purpose of the meeting was to enable the staff of GT to interact with the officials of Vodafone as the two companies got ready to start working in a new partnership, by which Vodafone is taking over 70 per cent of GT shares.
A source within GT said the two groups would waste no time but quickly move into serious work now that Parliament had given approval for the deal to be effected.
As early as 9:15 am, when the Daily Graphic team got to the premises of GT, the company’s compound had been besieged by workers dressed in red and white Vodafone T-shirts with matching red caps. Few of the ladies were in red shoes to complement their outfit.
As the workers came out of their offices, some were seen patting each other at the back, while others exchanged pleasantries or shook hands with one another.
Some few minutes to 10 am, a combined team of GT officials, led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Dickson Oduro-Nyaning, and top officials from Vodafone, moved from the main building to the durbar grounds, all wearing Vodafone T-shirts.
Before the meeting, held behind closed doors, the Daily Graphic spoke with some of the workers and the feeling was that the workers were excited about the deal.
When the Daily Graphic approached Mr Nyaning in the company of the Vodafone team on their way to the durbar, he reiterated his confidence that the Vodafone group would inject new life into GT to enable the company to have adequate strength to compete with others in the industry.
The Western Regional Manager of GT, Mr Emmanuel Adusei Essel, said in addition to other enquiries he had made, interactions he had with some foreign nationals currently working with oil companies in the Western Region confirmed the competence of Vodafone on the international market.
On his part, the Brong Ahafo Regional Manager, Mr Agyeman Prempeh Agyekum, said with the two brands, the combined efforts of GT and Vodafone would move the company higher on the telecommunication industry.
A member of the Corporate Affairs Department, who wanted to remain anonymous, said in spite of the fact that some workers might be laid off, they could at least receive some end -of-service benefit based on the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) instead of waiting for the company to completely collapse for the workers to be sent home empty-handed.
“The issue was not about funds alone where Ghanaians could be allowed to raise funds to purchase the shares nor was it about managerial incompetence. The issue was about the need for international collaboration to enable GT to acquire the desired technological leverage to compete evenly with others globally. That is what we have now acquired through the deal with Vodafone,” he stressed.
Three hours of intense and hectic debate amidst heckling and jeering from both sides of Parliament last Thursday put to rest the debate on whether or not the government should offload 70 per cent of its shares in Ghana Telecom to Vodafone.
By a majority decision, Members of Parliament approved the sale agreement on August 14, 2008 , endorsing the government’s request to sell the shares to Vodafone International Holdings Company Limited of the United Kingdom for $900 million.
Whilst 124 MPs voted for the approval of the agreement, 74 of them voted against it.
Significantly, Messrs P. C. Appiah-Ofori, NPP member for Odoben-Asikuma-Brakwa and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, CPP member for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem, who is the party’s flag bearer, left the chamber before the voting took place.
Nii Adu Mante, who moved the motion, told the House of the benefits the country would derive from the approval of the agreement, stressing that because the transaction was on cash-free and debt-free basis, the government was taking steps to recapitalise GT as part of the process.
According to him, the technical team from the Ministry of Communications informed the Joint Committee that Ghana Telecom was currently insolvent because its debt obligations exceeded the value of its assets.
He further explained that as a result of that situation, the company was unable to attract the capital that was needed to enable it to grow and expand its operations.