Staff and members of the Tema Refinery Chapter of the General Transport, Petroleum, and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) have appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to dissolve the Board of Directors of the Refinery.
At a press conference at the forecourt of the refinery, they said the board was micromanaging the refinery, and the day-to-day business of the institution was being undertaken by them.
Mr. Joojo Koomson, the Junior Staff Association Chairman of TOR, said the acting Managing Director of the refinery could not take any operational decisions without approval from the board.
Mr. Koomson said that even though the board had held more meetings than any other board in the history of the refinery during its 18-month existence, there was nothing good to show, adding that there was therefore a need for the Presidency to dissolve it.
He added that even though there were a lot of partners knocking at the doors of the refinery to partner with it, the board was only fixated on using Torrentco, even though they do not have the capacity or credibility.
“We are pleading with the Presidency; we want the refinery to work; as workers, we want it to work well so that out of it we can demand what is legally and rightfully ours; we don’t want anybody to induce us with shares,” he said.
Mr. Bernard Owusu, the Chairman of the GTPCWU of TOR, reiterated that the board had failed the workers and therefore the urgent need to dissolve it for the refinery to work.
Mr. Owusu stated that no member of the union, staff, or management was involved in the formation of a supposed TOR Charity Fund, a situation he claimed was created by some five persons at the top for their parochial interests.
Madam Serwaa Duncan Williams, the Chairperson for the GTPCWU of TOR, expressed worry that President Akufo-Addo had not visited the refinery to get first-hand information on what was happening there, expressing belief that the board did not paint the true picture for him as his appointees.
She added that though TOR had over 500 workers, the board, made up of about five people, had decided to use them to enrich themselves, therefore insisting that the Torrentco deal must still hold.
She questioned the rationale behind Torrentco changing its name about five times just to get the partnership deal.