Staff members of Ghana Telecom (GT) in Kumasi yesterday staged a brief demonstration at the company's premises to back government's decision to offload 70 percent of its stake in the state-owned telecommunication company.

Clad in various GT paraphernalia with red bands around their wrists and necks, the workers converged on the GT office entrance located at Adum, a suburb of Kumasi amid singing and dancing.

They held placards some of which read: “Vodafone welcome home”, “Parliament, please endorse the sale agreement”, “Workers would be safe with Vodafone deal”, “GT is dying slowly”, “Only Vodafone can save it” and “Ye ko ye nim with Vodafone deal”, among others.

The Ashanti Regional Sales Manager of the company, Mr. Johnson Arkaah, who spoke on behalf of the demonstrating workers in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, said the action was a clear demonstration of their conviction that the Vodafone deal was the best for GT.

He noted that Vodafone, because of its enviable track record in the world's telecommunication industry, is the best investor with the capability to turn the dwindling fortunes of GT around.

According to the Sales Manager, GT requires an investor with global expertise, significant capital and international recognition to be able to impact positively on the destiny of the state-owned telecommunication company.

Arkaah indicated that due to lack of proper investment over the years coupled with stiff competition from players in the telecom industry in the country, GT had not been able to provide quality services to its clients.

“We the workers are optimistic and certain that with the coming on board of Vodafone, GT will be able to build the required competencies and capabilities in the provision of quality services comparable to international standards,” he argued.

He therefore appealed to Members of Parliament (MPs) to, irrespective of the political colours they wear, passionately give the green-light for the sale agreement to be finally made valid.

The Regional Sales Manager noted that posterity would not forgive the MPs if they played politics and consciously refused to endorse the GT sale agreement.

He described opponents to the sale agreement as people who indisputably did not want GT to progress to the standard of an international company.

“I encourage the good people of this country to reject the false claims of opponents and critics of the GT deal and rather support government's decision because it is the best under the present conditions,” he firmly advised.

Denouncing public assertion that workers should be equally blamed for the poor state of GT, Mr. Arkaah contended, “no matter how efficient and effective we are as workers, we cannot make the needed change without the right injection of capital and global expertise”.

According to him, they would embark on series of demonstrations to win public sympathy towards the Vodafone deal, should Parliament fail to ratify the agreement.

Meanwhile, Parliament, which is currently on a three-month vacation, is expected to sit today to deliberate some sensitive national issues, and the Vodafone deal will automatically feature prominently.

Political pundits say a hot debate is likely to arise in the august House when the Vodafone deal is brought to the floor.

From Morgan Owusu & Fred J.A Ibrahim, Kumasi Source: Daily Guide - Daily Guide