Investigations into the allegations of Metro Mass Transit (MMT) workers against management of the company have revealed that there have been lapses in the procurement processes of the company.
Workers of the MMT staged a demonstration on January 12, 2015, accusing the management and board of the company of mismanagement.
They also protested against the management for failing to comply with the procurement processes and other internal regulations and, therefore, called for their heads.
The government, therefore, contracte Pricewaterhousecoopers Ghana Limited, private investigators, to undertake investigations into the concerns raised by the workers. As a result of the protest, the board was dissolved, while the Managing Director, Mr Noble Appiah, and his deputy, Mr John Awuku Dzirash, were asked to step down.
New board
The Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, at a ceremony to inaugurate a nine-member reconstituted board of directors for the company, indicated that the investigations identified procurement processe failures which were attributed to systems and control lapses.
Although the minister did not give details of the report, she said the investigators, among other things, recommended the restructuring of the company in order to put in place effective systems and control measures to address the fundamental systematic issues confronting it.
The new board, chaired by Mr Leslie Tamakloe, has Mr Ellis Hugh-Tamakloe of the Ministry of Transport, Mr Robert Karikari Darko of the Agricultural Development Bank and
Mr Patrick Tei Kwapong of National Investment Bank as members.
Others are Mr Mark Ofosu-Ampadu, representing the SIC Insurance Company, Mr Patrick A.K. Akorli, the Managing Director of GOIL, Ms Sheila Sampson, representing
Social Security and National Insurance Trust, and the Managing Director of MMT, Brigadier General Ishmael Ben Quartey.
Swearing in the board, Mrs Attivor urged them to take up the recommendations in the report on the investigations and deal with them appropriately to ensure efficient management of the resources of the company.
Recommendations
She suggested that the operations of the company should be automated to ensure efficient use of resources.
“In order to improve upon the fortunes of the company, I urge the board to support management to come out with very innovative measures and adopt global best practices to reduce revenue leakages,” she stated.
Mrs Attivor further entreated the board to ensure that the MMT remained focused on its principal mandate of providing intra-city services to help reduce congestion on the road, while investing in procurement of new buses to reduce the burden on government and its shareholders.
She urged the new board to learn lessons from the former board and ensure harmony among the workforce to avoid industrial unrest.
The minister also advised the board to avoid any interference with the day-to-day running of the company and stick to their core mandate of providing policy direction and assisting management in its work. In his remarks, Mr Tamakloe pledged the board’s commitment to assiduously work hard and go by the laid— down procedures and rules of the company.
He reiterated the need to automate the system controls in the company, adding that the board would bring to bear their expertise to address all issues.
The Executive Director of the State Enterprise Organisations, Dr Camynta Baezie, urged the board to bring on board innovative ideas that would help to self-sustain the company.
