Statement: Police Must Apologize to Kinapharma � Ghana Employers' Asso.

The Ghana Employers� Association (GEA) would like to express serious concern about the manner, drama and method employed by the Ghana Police Service in the arrest and detention of three Directors of Kinapharma Company Ltd for allegedly possessing substances suspected to be cocaine in the Spintex Road Factory. While GEA fully supports the concerted efforts by the Security Agencies to combat the drug menace in this country extra caution and circumspection needs to be taken when a corporate body is involved. This is as a result of the potential injury and damage to its hard-won reputation which would have been built over the years if it eventually emerges that the suspicion was unfounded. In the Kinapharma case the Management cooperated fully with the Police to subject the substances in their custody to an independent laboratory analysis to verify whether or not they were cocaine. This action by the Police instantly became public Knowledge and this has in the process dented the corporate image of Kinapharma. GEA would therefore advise the Police to exercise maximum restraint whenever any corporate body encounters similar problem in the future especially the potential implications for job losses in the event that the company loses business and market share as a result of these false and unfounded publications. GEA endorses the view of Kinapharma Management that a formal public apology should be rendered by the Police to the company and also a statement reassuring the business community to the effect that in future matters of this nature would be treated strictly confidential until after the results have been released before any such information could be released to the public. As an employers' organization, GEA would not condone the act of any business entity that violate the laws of Ghana but will condemn any false information that injures the image and hard-won reputation of employers in the country. Charles Cofie GEA President