UT/Capital Bank Workers Demand Exit Package

Former workers of the collapsed UT and Capital banks have appealed to the Central Bank to facilitate the immediate payment of their exit package to lighten the financial hardship they are enduring presently.

The Bank of Ghana in August, last year, had revoked the licences of the two banks due to severe impairment of capital and appointed Messrs Vish Ashiagbor and Eric Nana Nipah – both Directors of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) Limited (PwC)―as Joint Receivers for the purpose of winding-down the two banks’ dealings.

GCB Bank was then authorised by the Bank of Ghana to take over management of the defunct banks under a Purchase and Assumption Agreement.

In a statement release, Yesterday, the disgruntled former employees are asking for settlement adding that “an agreement was reached with UNICOF; our representatives to pay all staff of these defunct banks an Exit Package. However, nothing has been paid to staff.”

“It’s unfortunate that eight months down the line we have not received our Exit Pay, majority of us are jobless and the few who were lucky to have been employed by GCB Bank are also worse off in terms of remuneration.

“For our former colleagues at Capital Bank, it’s instructive to note that their End of Service Benefit which they contributed from their own salaries on monthly basis and was invested on their behalf by CBL Investments, have still not being paid despite instructions by the Joint Receivers to pay. We would like to pose a simple question to CBL Investments; is our ESB missing,” they asked.

The statement added: “To meet personal obligations, employees were also given some loans. As per basic rules governing credit, our staff loans were taken for a specific tenure. However, these extraneous circumstances have contrived to truncate the tenure and also deprive us of our livelihood.”

The aggrieved workers therefore called for their loans to be discounted so we can discharge their obligations to the Receiver.

Rethink Liquidation Laws

They further charged the government to rethink the laws governing

liquidation in Ghana.

According to them, they do not want to believe that employees are considered inconsequential in the scheme of things.

“The current status leaves employees very vulnerable and dispensable. Even though we are only a very small fly in the scheme of things, we believe that we are fighting for posterity by bringing the plight of workers during liquidation to the forefront,” the statement read.

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]