In Matter of the GHC1.2 million Telex Free Deal

Business News of Thursday, 19 February 2015

Source: Kwabena Adu Koranteng

Opportunity Savings Hot!

…Over Unlawful dismissal of workers

The Labour Commission has summoned the management of Opportunity International Savings and Loans Company to answer charges over the unlawful dismissal of some workers of the company.

An Official of the Labour Commission in an interview with the New Crusading Guide said a letter has been sent to the company to appear before the Commission on 5th March 2015 to answer charges related to the dismissal of a certain Peter Panying Anamamang, Solace Twum Barimah and Benjamin Quarm

Mr Martin Didemudo, Director in charge of Industrial relations at the Labour Commission who spoke to this reporter indicated that the dismissed workers had petitioned the Commission earlier this year upon which the Commission reacted by sending a letter to the Savings and Loans company for its responds which it did.

However, based on the Savings and Loans’ written response to the Commission which the latter finds quite unsatisfactory, the Commission has gone further ahead to invite the Opportunity International Savings and Loans Company (OISLC) and the dismissed workers to hear their final submissions on the matter before the Commission makes its pronouncement on the dispute.

Mr. Martin Didemudo noted that failure to reach amicable settlement on the appointed date the Commission will not hesitate to give judgment on the matter which shall be binding on all parties.

It will be recalled that nine workers of Opportunity International Savings and Loans limited were unlawfully sacked by their employer after the company lost a huge sum of GHC1.2 million in a bleak loan transaction with Telexfree, a United States based company which has a subsidiary in Ghana .

The affected workers include Benjamin Quarm, credit officer, Rabiatu Alidu, credit officer Peter Anaman, credit officer Solace Twum Barimah, credit officer Linda Asante , Relationship Manager ,Isaac Appiah , Relationship Manager Prince Asamoah , Transformation Officer Anita Tetteh, compliance officer and Yvone Nortey , the Madina Branch Manager of the Opportunity Savings and Loans Limited.

The telex Free deal was secured in December 2013, by one Prince Asamoah , a Transformation officer at the time with responsibilities to outsource new projects and customers “This transaction was recommended to the branch manager who accepted and implemented together with the management of the Bank.

The deal has since gone bad resulting in the Loans Company loosing GHC1.2 million and the intelligence gathered indicates that the nine workers are just being sacrificed to make up for the inefficiencies of the administrative heads.

As of the time of filing this report, the Loans Company has still not filed any official complaint at the police station to report the workers if it really believed that they caused that financial loss to the company.

Meanwhile, The New Crusading GUIDE has chanced upon some serious documents on the matter after the unlawful dismissals and other correspondence that has ensued between OISLC and the US company and will publish same after the sources are verified.