Fireworks in Parliament over GT

Author: Ebenezer Hanson
Parliament is poised to witness one of the fiercest debates in recent times as the House reconvenes tomorrow to deliberate what some political watchers and financial analysts have termed as the controversial Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) of 70% shares of Ghana Telecom (GT). Vodaphone, reputed to be the world’s leading telephony company, is offering $900 million for 70 % of GT, an amount that critics of the sale have described as a pittance. The submission of the SPA is in accordance with the chapter 13 of the Constitution, which deals with finance. Last month, Parliament put the deal on hold before it went on recess , as its joint Committee of Finance and Communication tasked to examine the proposals felt there were some loose ends, which needed thorough explanation by the government before the agreement is deliberated upon. It will be recalled that the Standard-bearer of the Convention People’s Party, Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum, who is also the MP for Komenda, Edina, Eguafo, Abirem (KEEA) Constituency, walked out of the Committee’s meeting because he felt the Chairman was rather being impervious to his views on the matter. Before Parliament went on recess last month, the Minority had contended that the deal could go for more that $ 900 million; it proposed an amount not less than $1.5 billion. Some Minority members have indicated to the Public Agenda that they are armed to the teeth with dossier of information to prove to all Ghanaians why the proposed deal is inimical to the economy; hence, the House should reject it.Nevertheless, Ministers and Spokespersons of the ruling government have spurned the arguments of the Minority because, the intended sale, they claimed, was the best thing that could happen to what they termed the near insolvent GT Company Limited. Only last week, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, was reported in the media to have challenged those who are against the purchase to offer credible alternative within 24 hours. Earlier at a news conference, the Minister for Communications, Dr. Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, asked Ghanaians to buy into the sale option, and assured GT workers that they would not be sacrificed on Vodafone’s altar in the unlikely event of retrenchment exercise since a whopping $40 million has been set aside for any severance arrangements. Additionally, he revealed that it has been provided in explicit terms in the SPA that Collective Bargaining Agreement of GT be respected at all times. He discloses that as at December 2007 the total assets of GT was GH¢531 million as opposed to its total liabilities of GH¢558 million, giving a negative net worth value of GH¢27 million. By May 2008 the total assets of GT were GH¢ 552 million as against its total liabilities of GH¢ 586 million resulting in a negative worth figure of GH¢ 34 million, emphasizing that this “should be a source of worry for any investor, government inclusive.”Outside the House, the proposed deal has ignited intense arguments both for and against the deal. The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has kicked against the deal and has responded to the challenge thrown by Hon. Baah-Wiredu. In a statement to the press, the CPP insists that recapitalizations of the company’s operations using part of the $300 million which the government was going to borrow in the name of the company would help to improve the quality of the GT management. The CPP said the government should also prosecute any member of the GT management culpable of any malfeasance, “including the Norwegian management team, for the adverse findings of financial improprieties made against them by the company’s internal auditors”, explaining that the exercise would help the country to recover millions of dollars and invest it in Ghana Telecom. Again, circumstances surrounding the $200 million Iroko bond, which places undue restrictions on GT’s ability to invest and to grow, should be probed to determine whether the management or the board indulged in self-dealing or whether the transaction advisor to the bond issue should be liable for the transaction, which the CPP thought was injurious. The government should also introduce management contracts at GT with performance targets and penalties for non-performance. Those appointed to the GT Board should not be politicians and that the membership should be advertised for potential board members, “who can demonstrate at properly constituted interview panels that they have the experience and competencies to help shape the vision and operations of GT”. The CPP also cautioned the government and supporters of the GT sale not to only refer to the company’s gross debts, but its net debts, which brings out the true position of the company’s indebtedness, having considered GT’s debtors as well. “This yields a much better picture of the financial health of the company and provides the basis for the government to collect all the inter-connectivity arrears and other debts, including those owed by government agencies, for the effective recapitalization of GT,” the statement said.Similarly, a group calling itself concerned citizens against the Sale of GT has taken the issue to the realms of the judiciary praying the court to stop the deal because it is at variance with the interests of the State. The group includes political stalwarts such as Bright Akwetey, Prof. Agyemang Badu-Akosa and Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, all of the CPP fame. “Any Member of Parliament who would vote in favour of the proposed sale is a traitor,” declared Bright Akwetey while speaking on the subject on an Accra-based radio station.The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has also indicated that they would be in Parliament to demonstrate against the deal, believing that the Parliamentarians will heed to their call and vote against the deal.But the questions on the lips of many Ghanaians are that, will the Majority in its characteristic fashion use its numbers to railroad the deal through Parliament? Or will the Minority stay and debate the issue to the end or will stage a walkout to register its protest as it has done in the past? Or will the Majority and Minority, for once, vote in the same direction on such an issue that has polarized the House? The answers to these questions will be settled tomorrow.