....JAK CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE

Accra (Greater Accra) 14 July 2003 – Workers of the Volta River Authority (VRA) have taken a stride in mending their broken fences in the course of pushing for the removal of their chief executive officer, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby.

They agreed to heal their wounds, remain as a family and stay focused as they attend to the authority’s core business of generating electricity for the nation. The power producers, however, reiterated their stand not to admit Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby in their midst again.

This was the concensus at a meeting held at Akosombo International School, in the Eastern Region. The meeting was at the instance of management and the staff group, made up of the senior staff association and the divisional house union, to brief the workforce of a meeting that they held with President John Kufuor on 4 July.

According to them the President has asked that they remain calm while he takes a decision on the findings of the ministerial committee appointed to investigate allegations the workers levelled against Dr Wereko-Brobby. The President was reported to have assured the workers that there would not be any victimization of any individual or group of persons identified during the impasse.

He advised them to desist from rushing to the press to publicize their problems but try to solve them internally. The was however grumbling when the Energy Minister, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom announced that reforms would take place at the VRA, to make hydro, thermal and transmission separate companies with their respective managing directors under one chief executive.