The Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) and General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) have made a series of allegations against the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Stephen Opuni.
According to the two labour unions, Dr. Opuni allegedly spent a whopping $24,000 on one foreign trip. They have further accused the CEO of spending $175,000 to renovate his official residence. According to the two unions, they have been compelled to spill the beans because Dr. Opuni has failed to sit down and negotiate condition of service for their members working with COCOBOD.
The two unions further contend that instead of sitting down with them, Dr. Opuni rather sat down with a retired worker of COCOBOD and negotiated the condition of service with him, which to them, is against the labour laws. The two unions further claim a whistle-blower had already reported the conduct of the COCOBOD CEO to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for the human right body to investigate him.
The Supreme Consultative Council of Cocoa Industry Workers Union, the newly formed union, which claims to have broken away from ICU and GAWU, has also joined the fray, accusing the ICU and GAWU executives of being manipulated by the external forces to denigrate their Chief Executive.
Meanwhile, ICU and GAWU do not recognize this new splitter union. The 1992 Constitution guarantees freedom of association, therefore, if the COCOBOD workers have decided to form their own union that is their right. The problem is whether they used the right channel to break-away, but that is an issue that can be contested in court.
Our concern, though, is the decision by both ICU and GAWU to keep to themselves the alleged splurging of state cash on foreign trips and renovation of the official residence by Dr. Opuni. Since Dr. Opuni’s accusers have themselves not provided any evidence to back the allegation they are making, The Chronicle cannot draw any conclusion that, Dr. Opuni is indeed guilty of the charges.
We are rather curious that ICU and GAWU would keep such vital information about the abuse of office to themselves and only releasing it now, after falling out with him (Opuni). Indeed, from the conduct of the workers union, if Dr. Opuni had negotiated the condition of service with them, they would have kept quiet over the issue, even though it is a serious attack on the national purse.
As we have already stated, there is no evidence to prove that Dr. Opuni had indeed misused state money for his personal aggrandisement but if the allegation is established to be true, the leadership of ICU and GAWU would be guilty of covering up crime and only blowing the lid, after they have been jettisoned by the former Food and Drugs Board Chief Executive Office.
Workers’ leadership must not only be seen to be championing or fighting for better condition of service for its members; but also be concerned about how monies are disbursed from state coffers. Covering-up is a serious crime, but regrettably, this is what the ICU and GAWU seem to have done, though they are yet to feed the public with relevant documents to back their allegation.
Nevertheless, it is the hope of The Chronicle that the CHRAJ, which according to the labour unions, is handling the case of abuse of office against the COCOBOD CEO, would speed up investigation into the case to either find the accused culpable or exonerate him from all the charges being levelled against him.
Spending $175,000 to renovate official residence is a serious allegation that must not be swept under the carpet, especially at the time that, the COCOBOD itself is struggling to meet higher production figures.
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