With the advent of the late President Evans John Atta Mills who later unfortunately
succumbed to an unexplained but very demeaning death, to power, on the ticket of the
NDC party, the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) started to be politicized.


In year 2009 when President Mills assumed the mantle of leadership of Ghana, he made
one Mr Joe Abbey, the then Director of Estates the Managing Director of the TDC.
Prior to Joe Abbey’s dubious promotion to the Managing Directorship of TDC based on
the fact that he was, and is still, a staunch member of the NDC, one Mrs Elizabeth
Mansa-Banson was the Managing Director.


When the NDC came to power on 7 January 2009, the woman was not yet due for
retirement/pension. However, the NDC kicked her out and made Mr Joe Abbey, an NDC
activist, the Managing Director. They perceived the woman to have an affiliation to
the then defeated NPP government hence forcing her out of her respectable cushy job.


When he took over as the Managing Director, the first thing he did was to
dishonourably remove the plaque made in honour of Elizabeth Mansa-Banson from a wall
in the Boardroom. The NDC felt strongly that as long as the woman was appointed by
NPP, she would still champion the cause of NPP even though the party was no longer in
power hence her demotion and disgraceful removal from her position as stated above.


Joe Abbey started to intimidate all the staff members he suspected to be NPP
sympathisers. On several occasions, he would say in meetings that the National
Security and the BNI had assured him that any staff member he perceived to be
undermining him must be reported to them to be drastically dealt with. He often
threatened to terminate the appointment of any staff member suspected to aspire to
undermine him. He repeatedly reiterated this nonsensically intimidating statement at
any least opportunity he had all in the belief of subjugating his perceived NPP staff
members to what was a perpetual culture of silence.


He was able to cow all those members who openly or covertly had affiliation to the
NPP. There was a total intimidation of staff members at the Tema Development
Corporation (TDC). At any least or given opportunity, he kept reminding the staff
that the seemingly partisan and politicized BNI and the National Security personnel
have asked him to report his enemies to them and once done, they would not hesitate a
minute to deal mercilessly with such culprits.


He once, out of sheer malice, did report some perceived NPP sympathisers to the
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) now the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to be
investigated. However, there were no adverse findings established against them
despite their repeated up and down travels or numerous invitations to the office of
the SFO.


As if that was not enough to quench his evil appetite for getting the alleged NPP
staff members expelled from the job, he side-lined those in senior positions that he
still felt were overtly or covertly well-disposed to the NPP. He rather preferred to,
and really dealt with, their subordinates that he saw and believed to be NDC guys,
faithful or activists.


He would call these subordinates to Board meetings, travelled with them to overseas
on missions relating to the TDC while their section or department senior members were
completely ignored for being correctly or falsely presumed by him, Managing Director
Joe Abbey, to be staunch NPP supporters.


That silly attitude of his has continued until today, Saturday, 7 January 2017 that I
am penning or typing this article, for publishing.


My conducted investigations into his bizarre partisan and unethical attitudes have
revealed that he was due for retirement in April 2016. However, for unexplained
reasons only best known to him and the now gone President “ Ede bii keke Onaapo”
John Dramani Mahama, the most unprecedentedly corrupt, clueless and incompetent
President in the annals of Ghana politics and the NDC, he was given a two-year
extension of his contract by President Mahama.


At a quarterly durbar held at TDC during the “questions and answers time”, he
boastfully made it clear that if a new government comes and attempts or decides to
abrogate or terminate his contract, he would sue for judgment debt.


What is a judgment debt? It is, “the amount of money in a judgment award to the
winning party, which is owed to the winner by the losing party”. He is resolutely
determined to take the government relieving him of his post before his
outrageously-extended two-year term contract ends to the Employment Tribunal for
unlawful dismissal hence his hope of extracting a handsome or a huge NDC-type of
“create, loot and share” judgment debt from the incoming NPP government if they
dare terminate his contract


Now that the table has turned with the advent of NPP to power, he has seriously
started lobbying them to remain in post but having first packed the TDC with NDC boys
and girls in what infamously constitutes job for the boys. However, because of his
divide and rule tactics, the majority of the staff are very agitated and disappointed
in his attempts to have NPP maintain him for all his devilish practice of
partisanship in favour of, and elevation of, the NDC staff members.


How can somebody who perpetrated and perpetuated this culture of divide and rule cum
harmful intimidation against the majority of the staff for their alleged NPP
political persuasion be still allowed to successfully lobby the NPP to continue to
remain in office to sabotage the party and the government?


Time changes and as said in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, there is time and season for
everything. It is now imperatively the time for the Managing Director Joe Abbey to
peacefully proceed on leave prior to retiring. He has the option to either jump by
himself or he will be pushed at all cost as long as the no-nonsense Rockson Adofo
from Kumawu and Asiampa in Juaben has got involved. The choice is his. He must bear
in mind that Rockson Adofo does not suffer fools kindly.


He is on record to have said recently that some of the staff have started acting
funny following the declaration of Election 2016 results in favour of Nana AKufo Addo
and NPP. As thick as he is and has always been, thinking he can always be the law
unto himself because he had the fullest backing and support of the NDC, the SFO and
BNI, he threatened the staff that there was no way he would accept them jubilate the
NPP’s overwhelming victory in any form or shape at work. He reprimanded staff
members jubilating at NPP’s election victory and warned that any member who
continued to celebrate the NPP’s success in any manner or form would be stringently
dealt with to their regret.

Is this the person that the NPP are going to allow themselves to be lobbied by to
retain his position only to continue to suppress their sympathisers and their rights
to freedom of association?

If I had my own way, Joe Abbey would be a goner long ago. By his character and
ridiculous partisan nature unhealthy for running a big public corporation as TDC, he
must be deemed a misfit in his current job and position. I recommend he is forced to
resign or proceed on retirement before his two-year extension of contract comes to an
end.

Rockson Adofo

(Written on Saturday, 7 January 2017)