Entitlements Of Former UT, Capital Bank Staff Still Unpaid

Former staff of defunct UT and Capital Bank are appealing to President Akufo-Addo and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison to intervene to ensure that their entitlements as former workers are paid.

In a statement copied to citinewsroom.com, the former workers lamented that life has become unbearable for them in the past year as most of them continue to struggle to pay their rents, utility bills among other expenses.

The statement said some of the staff have lost their lives as a result of the dire situation.

“…some lives have been lost within this torrid period, leaving behind children and other dependents.”

The former workers said while they admit that the collapse of the banks as well as other decisions taken recently by the Bank of Ghana is to sanitize the banking sector, it deems it inappropriate for the “innocent staff” to be “thrown away with the bath water to wallow in poverty and distress and to suffer psychologically, physically and socially.”

The Bank of Ghana in August 2017 collapsed the two banks and directed state-owned GCB Bank to take over all of their assets because they had become insolvent.

The staff were assured of entitlements including severance packages. However they are yet to receive the entitlements a year after they lost their jobs.

Read the full statement below:

As has been widely reported in the media, on the 14th of August, 2017 we the staff of Capital Bank and UT Bank were hit with devastating news that turned our lives upside down. At exactly, 6:00am on that fateful day, it was announced that in line with section 123 of the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) Act, 2016 (Act 930), our banks had been liquidated and that the Bank of Ghana had appointed Joint Receivers to execute a Purchase and Assumption agreement.

Many of us believed that it was important to be optimistic but one year down the line we are struggling to survive. Our Exit Pay which was negotiated on our behalf by UNICOF and agreed with the Joint Receivers on the 15th of January, 2018 has still not been paid to help us stay on our feet. Some of us who also believed that our working experiences, skills and qualifications would help us return to the job market have been hit by a rude awakening. Not only have job opportunities been difficult to come by, we have been hanged with the albatross of collapsing our respective banks. The stigma seems to accompany us everywhere when we knew practically nothing.

We the staff sweated in the sun daily to mobilize deposits, we met challenging targets and sweated at Monthly Performance Reviews to justify our means of livelihood. We lived from one pressure moment to the other.

Meanwhile, in all these discussions in recent times, what has been missing is the plight of we the workers; “the innocent foot soldiers” who toiled for years to break our backs for these banks.

Who stands with us? Who speaks for us? Who feels our pain and anguish?

On the 20th of May, 2018 we submitted a petition to his Excellency the President, but we are yet to receive even an acknowledgement of the receipt of the petition. We pray and hope the petition will be given the needed attention.

As stated earlier, one year down the line, life has been tougher than many of us anticipated. We are struggling to feed, pay medical bills, pay rent, pay school fees for our children and also cater for our other dependents. We are basically struggling to survive. Unfortunately, some of us have lost their lives within this torrid period, leaving behind children and other dependents.

While we believe that the overall effect of the Bank of Ghana's action is to sanitize the Banking Industry, we believe that we the innocent staff have just been thrown away with the bath water to wallow in poverty and distress and to suffer psychologically, physically and socially.

One year down the line, once again, we can only appeal to;

1. The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; The Vice President of Ghana, His Excellency Alhaji Mahmoud Bawumia;

2. The Honorable Minister of Finance; Ken Ofori-Atta;

3. Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison;

4. Joint Receivers;
5. And other relevant stakeholders;
To look in our direction and intervene to ensure that our entitlements are paid to us to help us put our lives together.

In this period of darkness, the media has been our only ally and we will like to thank you for giving us the platform to air our grievances.

God bless you.

‘Otabil prays for workers’
Meanwhile, the board chairman of the defunct Capital Bank, Pastor Mensa Otabil has expressed concern about the lives of the former employees of the former company.

In his first public statement on the matters arising from the collapse of the bank he said, “my foremost concern, as has been the case over the past year, is for the well-being of those who lost their jobs and those who may have been adversely affected in any way as a result of these developments. My heart goes out to them and to their dependents. I continue to pray for God's guidance and sustenance as they navigate the course of their lives.”