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14.11.2005 General News

Eva Lokko Returns To GBC

By pFm
Eva Lokko Returns To GBC
14.11.2005 LISTEN

Workers of the Ghana Broadcasting have resumed protests against the return of their now former chief executive, Madam Eva Lokko. Mrs Eva Lokko has sought a court injunction against orders from her employers the National Media Commission who maintain that she should proceed on leave.

Events have however taken an interesting twist as Mrs Lokko is refusing to sit at home and has succeeded in securing an order of interlocutory injunction which permits her to be back in office for a period of eight days. The workers at G.B.C are however not pleased with the situation and insist that they would not allow Eva Lokko to be back at work.

The workers have mounted protests at the premises of G.B.C against Madam Eva Lokko. The atmosphere currently is tense with the security at G.B.C on high alert. The main allegations against the former Director General is financial malpractices. However, others also accuse her of incompetent management, favouritism and claim that although she has urged workers to take their leave she herself has not gone on vacation ever since she assumed office. Eva won't go ...Sues NMC, GBC management ...But angry workers say no way Chronicle -- But for the timely intervention of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) Union Chairman, Mr. Louis Darko, Counsel for the embattled Director General (DG) of GBC, Mr. Kojo Bentsi-Enchill and one bailiff would have been torn into pieces at the premises of the corporation.

Mr. Bentsi-Enchill and the bailiff had to be escorted to their vehicles to escape being lynched by the angry workers last Friday, after they had gone to serve the management with a court injunction restraining the National Media Commission (NMC) and the board of GBC from ordering the DG, Ms. Lokko, to go on compulsory leave.

According to eyewitnesses, around 12:00 p.m. that day, the workers had a hint that Ms Lokko's lawyer and a bailiff had come to the GBC premises to look for the management to serve them an injunction notice seeking to prevent them from forcing Ms Lokko to go on compulsory leave.

The workers subsequently, quickly prepared placards and gong-gongs and started searching for the two.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards carried read, 'Satan will punish evil Lokko!' 'Evil Lokko where are our monies?' 'Lokko rest in peace', 'GBC needs peace', and 'Evil Lokko your Kingdom has ended.'

The eyewitness stressed that Mr. Bentsi-Enchill approached Mr. Darko to educate him on the implications of the court injunction and the need to stop disturbing Ms Lokko.

The statement however, did not go down well with the Union Chairman, who argued that the lawyer should stop personalizing issues, since he as the chairman only represented the views of the workers.

It continued that he found it very disgusting about the way and manner, Ms Lokko and her lawyers had attributed Ms Lokko's compulsory leave to him as a person.

It was while they were debating, that the workers finally located them and started attacking the lawyer and bailiff verbally, but the union Chairman managed to restrain them.

The eyewitness said due to the tension at the corporation, Mr. Darko escorted the two to their vehicles, and waited until they had safely driven away from the corporation. The paper gathered that soon after the demonstration, the workers held a durbar where it was agreed that the workers should focus on the corporate fraud that had engulfed the GBC.

The paper further gathered that they agreed to give maximum support to the new Acting Director General, Mr. Yaw Owusu Addo.

The workers noted that Ms Lokko should spend her compulsory leave peacefully, warning that they would not tolerate any diversionary tactics.

They were of the strongest conviction that the GBC had been turned into a personal gold mine and that was why she did not want to go on leave. When the paper contacted Mr. Bentsi-Enchill yesterday for his version of what transpired, he said he would not talk to the paper, since he did not do that kind of business on Sunday afternoons.

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