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08.03.2013 Feature Article

PRIVATIZATION OF TOR: a revolting incredulity!

PRIVATIZATION OF TOR: a revolting incredulity!
08.03.2013 LISTEN

Ghana's economic conundrum has resulted mainly due to the absence of leadership. Essentially, leadership does not merely revolve around appointing people just to fill a vacant position but doing so with the intent of achieving organizational results. Interestingly, the country appears to be good at putting people in leadership positions but fails to demand performance. And consistently, non-performance has been the only mark of people at the helm of affairs, especially in the public sector. We have not only failed to manage our own wealth but have also failed woefully to manage the legacies bequeathed to us by our founding fathers. What a pity it is for leaders of the State to suggest to us that the only way to make good of the few legacies of the founding fathers is to thread on the path of privatization? And they talk as if those to buy such State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are some kind of angels who have got the magic wand to turn the fortunes of non-performing SOEs into instants glories. I simply cannot understand this kind of mindset!

The Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC)
I consider the spirit and intent of the DIC as an indictment on us as a people. Originating from the Economic Recovery Programme which saw a major SOE reform in the late 80's, the DIC was established in 1993 under PNDC Law 326 to among other things oversee all activities underpinning the sale of SOEs. Without delving deeper into the performance of the DIC, I seek however to question the overall decision of governments over the years to allow rot, decay, despondency and shameless laziness to rock SOEs. And because non-performing state enterprises will eventually be divested, then management can continue to ride in laxity with impudence. Gleaning from the website of the DIC, one reads: “The divestiture program is an ambitious attempt to unlock the economic potential of Ghana by permitting resources of people, money and technology to be put to their best use and by increasing efficiency to achieve better living standards for all.” What a parody it is to unlock the potentials of Ghana when SOEs have to be divested? We do know that in the past years, almost all the divested SOEs have failed to meet the very reasons that informed their sale. Most if not all divested entities have performed abysmally poor and one grandeur entity that readily comes to mind is the Tema Drydock which the government of Ghana, under late President Mills had to re-acquire. So what justifies the assumption that divesting SOEs is the panacea to non-performance? Subjecting state entities through the processes of divesture is a shameful admission that non-performance is heavily rewarded. Why do I say so? It is classical to note that when state-owned enterprises are divested, it is some political heads, and members of top management of those organizations who get the lion's share. Allegedly, some management members in impregnable alliance with some government actors turn themselves into prospective investors of the very enterprises they have failed to manage. Are we not aware of divested SOEs owned by people who were in government at the time with some still in leading positions? It is so sickening that despondency has been gravely endorsed so that those in power continue to take the nation and its poor people for a ride.

Is it not said that problem identification is a half-way solution proffered? If this mantra is valid, then I wonder why the DIC has succinctly identified the problems of non-performing SOEs and yet has failed to apply the solutions; and instead the DIC continues to worsen the fortunes and potentials of divested organizations. In assigning reasons for which SOEs have performed poorly thus necessitating their divestiture, the DIC lists the problems of SOEs as over-staffing; decision making at times being paralysed by excessive bureaucracy and a laissez-faire attitude towards state business; the lack of technical expertise; the absence of the commitment and entrepreneurial direction that private investors bring to business; low incentives for management and inadequate working capital and investment in new plant and machinery, leading to low capacity utilization.

Undoubtedly, these are part of the problems of SOEs but what the DIC forgot to add is the fact that failure to fire non-performing staff is what accounts for all these organizational lapses. By the way, is divestiture the only way out of salvaging non-performing SOEs? Granted that at the time of the establishment of the DIC, it was well-intended that the dwindling fortunes of divested companies would be over-turned and that the new owners would bring some ingenuity and vigor on board. But having gone through close to three decades of the divestiture programme, have we not come to the realization that the very essence of divestiture has been defeated by the growing non-performance of SOEs that were divested? Indeed, in many instances, at the occurrence of divestiture massive redundancy sets in and livelihoods of families are affected as a result of lay-offs. New management comes in and in no time, operations are halted and the organization grinds to a halt. I must say that the few SOEs that have remained viable have only proved to serve the interest of their foreign owners who bask in profits to their home countries. What have we benefited from the divested gold firms in which the Ghana government owned the largest shares? What has become of Ghana Airways? Are there not enough lessons for us to learn from? Oh, Ghana my beloved country. Cry not, even though your wings of freedom have been plucked out.

Privatization of TOR
At the time of Ghana's Independence Celebration, which ushered the country into its 56th birthday, one wakes up to hear suggestion by a Minister of State at the Presidency stoically proposing that TOR must be privatized and as was reported by myjoyonline.com, that is the only way to “guarantee the proper management of the state asset.” If TOR's problem is not infrastructural deficit but rather poor management, then the problem is solved. Getting the right people with the expected managerial acumen to overturn the fortunes of this great national asset can be done without having to privatize it. Surely, as a government entity, the state has more than the required capacity to hire the much needed managerial staff to put fresh blood into the dying TOR. The state is better capacitated to fire non-performing management and reward high performers. Privatizing TOR on the basis of managerial deficits is to reward mediocrity whilst leaving the problems of this country unresolved. I cannot imagine that the only crude oil refinery in Ghana and one of Africa's best is to be sold at a time Ghana has become an oil-producing country with more promising discoveries being made at short intervals. I simply cannot fathom this drive and for me the intention cannot be anything except mendacious! There can be no time for TOR to be profitable than this period of Ghana's oil find. Is it not shocking that even when Ghana had not discovered oil in commercial quantities, so much capital was expended to set up TOR and now that we have the raw material to feed the refinery being produced locally, government is thinking of privatizing it? What a country of backward thinking? But guess what, readers, did I hear some employees of TOR readily showing interest in the shares of TOR should the privatization move be activated? Yes, I did and thought that my ears were not listening well. They are entitled to be part-owners, why not? The interest so generated in the shares of TOR by its employees only goes to affirm that TOR is a viable entity. Could it be that the poor performance of management and staff, if truly so, was an orchestration to see TOR's fall, so that they can own shares upon its privatization? Let us ponder a while over these strange developments because for me, if truly TOR's issue is managerial ineptitude, then it is an orchestration and the earlier we fired the heads and other non-performing staff, the better it will be for Ghanians and the future generation.

How can the story be told that once upon a time when Ghana was not producing crude oil, the country had a refinery which was well-performing and that it only grinded to a halt and eventually sold out when oil was struck in commercial quantities? This parody is indeed a needless episode and no true Ghanaian can tell this story to his or her younger generation when the history of Ghana is to be told.

The Worrying Trend into the Future
Once TOR is added to the list of several divested SOEs, then we should begin to earmark the Akosombo Dam and the yet-to-be launched Bui Dam for divestiture in the not too distant future. With the passage of time, these and many other sensitive state assets will be grinded to a halt by non-performing managers and board members and we would go begging for investors to buy off these monumental investments. Surely, there is motivation for being clandestine in our managerial positions; after all, no appointing authority will fire appointees and instead, they will be part owners of what they themselves would have helped crush down. May I plead that those of my generation and the much younger ones should rise up and crusade against this very idea of divesting TOR. The solution is a matter simplicita; keep firing non-performing staff of SOEs and invest in high-performers. Let us reward only on the basis of performance so that mediocrity, laxity and gross incompetence can be nipped in the bud. Is it not-shocking that the Antrak Air's and other Ghanaian conglomerates are raising the flags of Ghana so high? Are there not enough human capital to spearhead performance? Some of us are sick of the lack of foresight. We cannot make progress if we fail to set high targets and achieve goals. May I humbly implore all those calling for TOR's privatization to reconsider their intention and rather walk on the path of demanding performance through hard work, effective monitoring and supervision and the application of sanctions to non-performers. The alibi for privatization cannot be on the pretext of managerial lapses. It certainly cannot hold true for TOR!

Long live Ghana!

Adama Bukari.
Accra, Ghana.

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Blog: www.adbukari.blogspot.com
Cell: 0244 653 009

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