By Selorm GBORBIDZI, Accra
Despite assurances by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta that workers of the now defunct UT and Capital Banks would be paid, the workers are still yet to receive their benefits.
The workers, who number about 1200, in a press statement signed by the their representatives Phillip Yawson and Raymond Addai Danquah, expressed their disappointment that an issue which they had hoped will receive closure in 2018 has transcended into the new year.
“We were given some assurance by the Minister of Finance that our Exit Pay will be paid by 25th December, 2018. We were highly expectant, but that promise has remained unfulfilled and it’s sad and unfortunate that we have started the New Year with an issue we were hoping to gain closure to in 2018” the statement said.
The workers made 3 requests in their letter. Namely:
Payment of Exit Pay
The workers said that the requested amount of GH₵40million was only 10% of the over GHS400m recovered from the assets of the defunct banks as per the Joint Receivers’ statement dated 9th of October, 2018. This amount they reminded had been negotiated by UNICOF and agreed with the Joint Receivers on the 13th of November, 2017
Waiver of staff loans
The workers also appealed for the loans which they had contracted while under the employ of the defunct banks to be waived, since the tenure for these loans had expired. They also explained that the deduction of all outstanding loans of ex-workers in bulk from their entitlements would leave them with nothing.
Review of laws governing liquidation
They again appealed for the review of laws governing liquidation, with specific reference to Section 135 of Act 930, which focuses on claims payment, to ensure that in future, the wellbeing and welfare of bank employees would be one of the concerns of the regulators of the sector since the employees are affected psychologically, socially, emotionally and financially by the crisis.
The letter appealed to the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo, the Vice President, the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the Joint Receivers, the Trade Union Congress and other relevant stakeholders to intervene to ensure that their Exit Pay is paid.
“We believe that so far, we have comported ourselves and appealed to the conscience of stakeholders in the face of extreme hardship and we are getting desperate by the day,” the letter concluded.
It would be recalled that on the 14th of August, 2017, Capital Bank and UT Bank were liquidated by the Bank of Ghana for severe impairment of Capital, leading to the retrenchment of 1200 banking staff.
Source: The Finder