Rumor Mill of Monday, 1 June 2009

Source: Daily Democrat

GBC Director Exposed

...As Workers Call for Her Removal

Joseph Ofosu-Koforidua

Credible information reaching the offices of The Daily Democrat indicates that workers and staff of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) branch in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, are up in arms against their Regional Director, Mrs. Eunice Obeng Yeboah, whom the workers describe as an incompetent material and inexperienced on the job and as a result cannot handle the corporation effectively as Regional Director.

 According to our highly placed source within the staff, Mrs. Obeng Yeboah was allegedly imposed on them to fill the position of Regional Director by Mr. William Ampem Darko, Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) without following the due process, just because she happens to be his friend.

The source told the paper that soon after the Regional Director took over the position, she quickly initiated divide-and-rule tactics which has brought about division in the corporation in the region.

According to the source, on Tuesday May 26th 2009, some of the staffs at the Eastern Regional branch of the GBC were urgently invited to the head office in Accra by the Director General, Mr. Ampem Darko, who warned them to keep mute or face punishment by dismissal if the news is divulged to any media house. The source divulged that, due to the divide-and-rule strategy, there has been total havoc among the staffs, making it difficult for them to work as a team. When the paper contacted some workers, though some declined to speak to the paper for the fear of dismissal, others who had the courage pleaded anonymity and alleged that in some few months after she was made the Regional Director, she quickly brought her brother, Mr. Theodore Antwi, to occupy the position of the Regional Accountant.

They added that politics has also engulfed the corporation because it has become one of the common criteria of promotion and employment ever since she took office as Regional Director.

According to them, she threatened to severely deal with or sack any worker who complains about the situation. The workers are therefore calling on government, especially His Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills, who has promised on several occasions to be a father to all, to intervene and ensure that the likes of both Mr. Ampem Darko and Mrs. Obeng Yeboah are removed from the corporation as soon as possible because their attitude and conduct will overshadow the good image of the only television station owned by the state. They are also calling on the government to set up a committee to investigate the circumstances which led to the selection of Mrs. Eunice Obeng Yeboah as Regional Director, even though there are most experienced and qualified personnel to handle the corporation.

“If persuasion fails, force must be applied; we will hit the streets to demonstrate when the authorities fail to settle the matter amicably,” they threatened.

When The Daily Democrat contacted the Regional Director of the GBC on telephone for her side of the story, she refused to comment and cut the line. Attempts to get the Director General of GBC, Ampem Darko for his side of the story failed, as his phone was switched off.