NPC board members rise against board chair over attempt to dismiss ED

Some board members of the National Population Council (NPC) have risen to the defense of the Executive Director of the council following what they say is an attempt by the board chair to unilaterally get her out of office.

According to the members, the recent letter asking Dr Leticia Appiah to proceed on leave is not supported by Majority of the members.

They say attempts to get the board chair Dr. Gladys Norley Ashitey to respond to her reasons for the letter issued the Executive Director on their internal communication platform has failed.

Dr. Appiah was on November 4, 2020  directed to proceed on terminal leave by the Board of the council.

A board member who spoke to The New Publisher on condition of anonymity over fears of victimization said a number of them have tried to seek answers from the board chair on the seeming attempt to victimize Dr Appiah but she has refused to answer.

“What is happening is terrible, some staff members have openly threatened this woman and nothing has been done about it, it’s as though we don’t care. And such silence creates the impression that we encourage the staff to undermine her. It is not fair.

“And now from nowhere, without telling us anything, we heard that she is being asked to proceed on leave. What did she do wrong?” the staff said.

The board member noted there are attempts to replace Dr. Appiah with some lecturers who just joined the board last year.

The paper has also sighted some of the messages from board members seeking responses from the board chair on her decision to ask the executive director to proceed on leave

Another board member Cecelia Senoo, indicated that, the decision at the last meeting was to assess the performance of the of the Executive Director and make recommendations.

“Some of us on the board have no idea that the Executive Director at the National Population Council has been asked to proceed on leave.”

She added “How can you ask her to proceed on leave? Where do you want her to go? In any case, she was appointed by the President. I think we should have done the assessment, checked the gaps and then recommendations given to who appointed her.

“I know there are issues between the staff and the Executive Director which the board was supposed to address. From my point of view, we haven’t been able to address issues to ensure that things get back to normal. I think it’s been a failure. We must change things that won’t help the institution grow but they must be addressed objectively and holistically.”