President Kuffour Was Right In Selling GT

President Kuffour yesterday stated emphatically that, if given a chance again to make a decision whether to sell Ghana Telecom(GT) now Vodafone Ghana, he will do it all over again. Making his reasons known why it was a good idea to sell Ghana Telecom, he stated that,Ghana Telecom was in debt to the tune of $400 million,was also overstaffed as about 4000 of its workforce was virtually redundant.Ghana received $900 million for a company that was losing about $50 million a year and the Malaysians who then had 30% shares of GT "managed the company without accountability for five years.

"I'll sell it a hundred times [and] I will do it again for Ghana if given the opportunity...not for me [Kufuor] but for Ghana". President Kuffour stated.

President Kuffour is right. Rawlings had sold 30 percent of GT to Malaysia Telecommunication six years earlier for $45 million. GT was losing $50 million a year with 6300 workers when only 2000 workers were needed.When Vodafone bought GT, it got rid of 4000 workers and now GT is profitable. Imagine GT is still owned by Ghana government with its 6300 employees with SSSS salary. The government would be losing $200 million a year at this time when Ghana can't even pay workers.

GT is symptomatic of what is wrong with Ghana now. We have 700,000 government employees when we only need about 350,000 government workers but the Politicians are cowards to do the right thing. If Kuffour had laid off the 4000 workers who were drawing salaries but were not producing anything to the value of GT, Ghanaians would have complained loudly for being callous government who don't care about the welfare of the people.

The government was losing $50 million a year operating GT and Ghanaians think such a boondoggle should have been kept? For what, its aesthetic beauty? Government anywhere around the globe is a poor manager of running industries and that is why socialist and communist economies have failed anywhere it is practiced.GT debt would have been closer to one billion dollars on government books and still counting. You people should take off your political glasses off and look at reality.

President Kuffour was right in selling Ghana Telecom to Vodafone