Mr Morgan Ayawine, the General Secretary of Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union-Ghana, has opposed to any sale, concession, or arrangement of VALCO to a private ownership.
“We demand that all those orchestrating the sale of VALCO immediately reconsider their actions and allow the Company to remain the bona fide property of the people of Ghana.
“Posterity will not forgive those who mortgage the nation’s future for short-term or personal interests,” he said in a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency.
Mr Ayawine said the government must invest in VALCO and retain it as a national asset for the benefit of present and future generations.
He said, like any large industrial organization, VALCO had faced operational challenges at various stages of its existence.
Mr Ayawine said the challenges had always proven surmountable, with the company rebounding strongly and maintaining its status as one of Ghana’s most prized and prestigious national assets.
“The current challenges confronting VALCO are not fundamentally different from those experienced in the past, and workable solutions can certainly be found, just as they were previously,” he said.
He said the management had demonstrated resilience and commitment by taking decisive steps to overcome existing difficulties and expand VALCO’s capacity to process bauxite into value-added products under the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) Project.
He stressed that the Union found it difficult to understand the persistent machinations by certain prominent Ghanaian personalities to push for the sale of VALCO to a private investor.
These investors’ primary interest, he stated, may not be the welfare of Ghana, but personal gain to the detriment of the citizens.
“ICU-Ghana is deeply disappointed by the aggressive scheming by some highly placed individuals within GIADEC and VALCO to put this strategic national asset up for sale,” he said.
He recalled that when ICU-Ghana opposed the sale of the National Investment Bank and advocated its recapitalization, the government heeded that call.
Mr Ayawine said ICU-Ghana had consistently cautioned the government against the privatization of the Electricity Company of Ghana and urged the government to desist from any contemplated sale of VALCO to private interests.
“National assets must be preserved, strengthened, and developed to serve the collective interest of Ghanaians, regardless of cost.
They must not be disposed of for transient or personal gains,” he said.
Source: GNA
