Uneasy Calm At GBC

Mr. William Ampem-Darko is sitting on time bomb as the Director-General of the Ghana Braodcasting Corporation.

By William Yaw Owusu


Tuesady April 13,2010
The woes of Director General (DG) of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), the nation’s premier broadcaster William Ampem-Darko is deepening by the day.

The latest scandal to hit the embattled GBC DG is the allegations of financial impropriety which led the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to request his interdiction to pave the way for investigations into the matter.

Mr. Ampem-Darko is quoted in various media as saying he was on his way to Sierra Leone for an assignment and ‘would respond appropriately’ on arrival.

He was however quick to point fingers at Professor B.K Aheto, Board Chairman of GBC whom he accused of undermining his efforts to run an effective administration.
Daily Guide’s investigation at GBC indicates there is uneasy calm among staff following the SFO request to interdict Mr. Ampem-Darko.

While some including a number of management members support the move to interdict Mr. Ampem-Darko, others particularly the leadership of the union is strongly against any move to remove him ‘unconstitutionally’.

A section of the GBC staff held a press conference yesterday to appeal to those behind the call for the removal of Mr. Ampem-Darko to use laid down procedures to get him out, warning that they will resist any ‘unconstitutional’ attempt to get rid of their boss.

They said it is the National Media Commission (NMC) which has the constitutional mandate to terminate DG’s appointment if he is found to have abused his office.

The NMC chaired by Kabral Blay-Amihere has confirmed that the SFO has already sent to its outfit, a copy of the petitions asking Mr. Ampem-Darko to step aside for it to investigate allegations of financial impropriety leveled against Mr Ampem-Darko.

A document sighted by the Daily Guide which was purportedly signed by Prof. Aheto with the title “Issues concerning Mr. William Ampem-Darko, Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)”, is believed to be the basis for which the SFO has initiated its preliminary investigations against the DG.

Prof. Aheto in the statement accused Mr. Ampem-Darko of breaching the GBC board’s decisions, citing President Barack Obama’s visit as a case in point where he stated “Mr. Ampem-Darko did not attach any importance to a letter dated June 2, 2009, which Mr. Koku Anyidoho, Head of Communications at the Castle –Osu wrote to him giving Mr. Nat Lomo Mainoo his express authority to do business with GBC on behalf of the Presidency.”

Another issue raised by Prof. Aheto is the Ghana-Zambia football match television feed which he claimed Mr. Ampem-Darko “ignored a board resolution that was unanimously adopted on June 19, 2009 directing him to liaise with the board chairman where there is an emergency contract to be signed”, accusing him of signing a $40,000 contract with one Justin Addo of JV2iConsult for the match to be telecast live without any witness on August 3, 2009 but could only inform the board on August 12, 2009, when the match could not be telecast live.

Prof. Aheto in the write-up also accused Mr. Ampem-Darko during the Ghana Japan football match television feed which he said “GBC was responsible for the failure of the non-transmission of the match on September 12, 2009 as technicians and engineers of the satellite and microwave link section messed up with the JV2iConsult and his production team in Holland.”

On President JEA Mills’ address to the United Nations 64th Session, Prof. Aheto again claimed “The United Nations feed from the General Assembly was changed to another circuit prior to the speech of President Mills. By the time it was discovered the circuit was incorrect the president of Ghana had completed his remarks. Glocast North America has written to apologize to GBC but the damage had already been caused. GBC did not have the telephone numbers of the relevant personnel [i.e. Mr. Koku Anyidoho] traveling with the President who could have resolved the problem.”

Prof. Aheto further accused Mr. Ampem-Darko of payment of legal fees totaling GH¢35,000 on behalf of Louis Darko, Divisional Union Chairman of the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) of the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) of Ghana, in respect of a case which was brought against Ms. Eva Lokko, a former Director General of GBC .

On the debt of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of Ghana 2008, Mr. Ampem-Darko authorized the payment of 20 per cent commission instead of 3 per cent on an amount of GH¢876,000 the LOC of Ghana owed the GBC.

On the Optima Sports Management International, UK Limited versus GBC issue, Prof. Aheto claimed Mr. Ampem-Darko had told the board that he did not know anything about it but available documents indicated the substantive contract between Katamadara Concepts and GBC had been signed by the DG and witnessed by the DDG.

Prof. Aheto again claimed the decision to engage in parallel and duplicate employment of staff did not receive the prior approval of the then Board, adding “Most contract staffs are paid more than permanent staffs. This case is highly unacceptable to the Board.”

The Board Chairman accused the Director General of “shady deals” in respect of the release of Government of Ghana Subvention and closure of fuel dump at BH2 (Old Broadcasting House), saying, “In April 2008 Mr. Ampem-Darko closed down the fuel dump at BH2 where GBC procured and stored fuel at ex-factory (wholesale) prices from GOIL and the Corporation began purchasing petroleum products at ex-pump (retail) prices from GOIL Filling Station adjacent to Golden Tulip Hotel.

Prof. Aheto, among other things, accused Mr. Ampem-Darko of undertaking arbitrary human resource decisions with regards to transfers, appointments, and summary dismissals and further said there were weak controls, disregarded spending limits, and mismanagement of G2 Medical Laboratory (Medlab) Services, as well as preferential treatment of marketing (business), finance and audit staff.

Prof. Aheto accused Mr. Ampem-Darko of mismanagement or incompetence, gross misbehaviour which brings the Corporation into disrepute, did act that brought the employer into disrepute and undermined the integrity of the 1992 Republican Constitution.

“After working closely with the DG for the last five months, April 21 to September 30, 2009, the Board of Directors deems it imperative to recommend the termination of Mr. Ampem-Darko’s appointment after following the due process”.

Also see : www.dailyguideghana.com