Govt won't short-change Ghanaians - Awuni

Spread August 11/2008

Story: Charles Benoni Okine

THE government has stated that its intention to sell part of its stake in the ailing Ghana Telecommunications Company (Ghana Telecom) is not to short-change Ghanaians but to guarantee the viability, security and future of a strategic state asset.
It has also welcomed the varied suggestions and opinions of stakeholders, including civil society groups and political parties, on the deal and indicated that all those inputs had been duly captured to ensure that Ghana got value for money.
The President's Spokesperson, Mr Andrew Awuni, who made the statement when he briefed the Castle press in Accra yesterday, said: "The government also, in pursuance of its reputation for tolerance, transparency and good governance, has listened without let or hindrance to all the submissions to find out if there will emerge from these discussions any strong constructive options or alternative stance for saving Ghana Telecom".
Since the government announced its intention to pass on 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone of Britain, there have been heated and varied debates from all quarters.
The statement by the government, which indicates its intention to go ahead with the deal and the strong opposing positions of the political parties in opposition and some civil society groups, sets the tone for what is expected to be a heated debate over the issue in Parliament today.
Already, some civil society groups have planned to demonstrate over the sale, while others have threatened court action to stop the process from being followed through.
Mr Awuni said the government clearly admits that "there have been some pretty good analysis of the status of GT of what ought to be and what ought not to be".
He was emphatic in saying that the suggestions had already helped to shape the terms and agreement of the sale and Parliament, at the committee level, had already made various amendments to the sale agreement to reflect these ideas and suggestions.
"The government has over time explained the processes leading to the sale and said that the future of Ghana Telecom and the security and livelihood of the more than 4,000 workers and their families are in danger, if we were not to engage a strategic investor such as Vodafone to team up with our local expertise," he explained.
Mr Awuni said the position of the government had been corroborated by experts and workers of the company themselves on many occasions and reiterated that it was against this background that the government was not going back on its intentions, as far as the future of the company was concerned.
He said the government had over the last couple of years engaged a transaction manager to oversee the sale, out of which 15 telecommunications companies put in bids.
Mr Awuni said in the final analysis, Vodafone emerged the winner because it was able to make the highest offer of $900 million, while others quoted figures around $500 million and below.
As to whether the government was able to follow all the due processes, he stated: "We have followed all the laid-down procedures for the divestiture and violated none".
Mr Awuni expressed the government's disappointment to the effect that in the midst of all these truths and facts, a section of the society, particularly political interest groups, continued to "pour scorn and threatening fire and brimstone almost on a daily basis against the good people of this country".
Asked what the government needed the money from the sale to do, he said the government stated its intentions with regard to the use of the proceeds from the sale in its 2008 budget statement but could not give details.
He also denied the assertions that the government intended to settle the debts of Ghana Telecom, which stands at about $400 million, with the proceeds from the transaction.
"We will not do that", he said; "Instead, we look forward to taking a concessionary loan of which we will be given some moratorium, to settle the debt," he said.
Mr Awuni said the loan would be paid gradually from the dividends that would accrue to the state from the 30 per cent stake in the company, adding that "we believe it is the fine way to go about settling the debt.
He said Ghana Telecom presently found itself among multinationals with huge financial clouts and would not be able to stand on its own, no matter the capital injection from the government.
"The government has been very open and transparent in this process," he reiterated and added that: "This government has never and will never short-change Ghanaians".