General News of Thursday, 15 April 2004

Source: --

Crisis in GBC: Workers Insist D-G Must Go

The pressure at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) has moved a notch up with the aggrieved members of staff asking the National Media Commission (NMC) to urgently remove the Director General, Eva Lokko.

The latest petition dated April 2, 2004 entitled ?Removal of Ms Eva Lokko as director General of GBC is alleging that process has eluded the GBC since the appointment of Ms Lokko.

The petition contains over 200 signatories. ?We the concerned staff of GBC have observed with great concern the lack of progress within the Corporation since the appointment of Ms Eva Lokko as the director general.

?We have made several moves though the divisional union to correct and resolve issues regarding her style of administration but to no avail. To this end, the workers said it is time for the embattled chief executive to leave GBC.

?We the concerned staffs of GBC are as a matter of urgency calling on the media commission to relieve Ms Eva Lokko from her post and the position advertised for al well qualified Ghanaians to apply.

The workers petition to the NDC, indicate that they have lost confidence in the Board of Directors? ability to resolve the three month old crisis. The petition was delivered to the commission on Thursday before the Easter break. But according to George Mac Badji, NMC executive secretary, the commission had not received any petition from GBC workers, except the petition sent to the board of which the NMC was copied at the inception of the crisis. To date I have not seen a copy of my petition from the GBC workers.

According to the aggrieved workers, a lot of nuisance had been inflicted on the cooperation since Eva?s appointment was not routed through a proper channel. Several well qualified Ghanaians were denied the chance of becoming the director general when Ms Eva Lokko who applied and was interviewed for the post of deputy director general was appointed. Her irregular appointment has however clearly shown that she was wrongly selected because the modalities laid down for interviewing a director general were not followed.

According to the workers, Ms Lokko performance has been characterized with gross administrative inefficiency. ?We think it is important to save the corporation from a total collapse since all original structures are falling apart, they claim.

Something radical, they say needs to be done by the appointing authority, the NDC in order to revive the low morale prevailing in the establishment. We fervently appeal to you to listen to the voice of the workers in the name of cooperation to foster unity and good working relationship.