By Ernest Addo
Details emerging from what appears to be a whirl-wheel from the workers at the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO), over what they say is a rush decision to dispose of the state-owned smelter reveals that the union may be crying wolf where there is none.
Sources familiar with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) Ghana Ltd. and the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) with ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms, to develop an integrated industrial park in Tema on a bare land workers believe belongs to VALCO insist that VALCO is not for sale and has never been earmarked for disposal.
The Managing Director (MD) of TDC Ghana Ltd., Courage K. M. Nunekpeku, yesterday, put paid to the allegations of the sale of VALCO and its land and clarified that VALCO’s lease on a 500-acre parcel of land had expired, and efforts to renew it were unsuccessful, prompting the Corporation to repossess the 250-acre bare land in line with established property agreements.
Mr. Reindorf Twumasi Ankrah , CEO, GIADEC
Crucially, Mr. Nunekpeku disclosed in the telephone interview, that VALCO currently owes TDC more than half a billion Ghana cedis in accumulated ground rent and lease renewal obligations for the land it still occupies – a situation that made continued control of excess land untenable.
Prodded on the fear of job losses by the workers, the TDC MD assured that the new land development initiative will not affect VALCO’s operations or its workforce in any way.
Instead, he added, the project is projected to create about 4,000 direct jobs and significantly boost economic activity in the area. He stressed that VALCO will also be allocated space within the new development, ensuring its continued presence and relevance.
Recall that TDC Ghana Ltd and the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms to develop an integrated industrial park in Tema.
The collaboration aims to boost industrial growth, create jobs, and support President John Dramani Mahama’s 24-Hour Economy Agenda. The park will focus on manufacturing, downstream aluminium production, logistics, and export services.
Under the agreement, TDC and GIADEC will provide land and regulatory support, while ARISE will handle technical services, infrastructure design and construction, and lead operations.
The project is expected to generate over 4,000 direct jobs, attract significant investment, and support the growth of Ghana’s downstream aluminium industry. ARISE brings extensive experience from similar industrial parks in Togo, Benin, and Rwanda.
Officials say the industrial park will accelerate Ghana’s economic transformation and reduce unemployment. The project is set to begin this year and is expected to be commissioned within 24 months.
But the leadership of the local union is up-in-arms, berating that the announcement did not follow any known consultation with key stakeholders, and that “the over eight hundred workers who sweat to keep the plant alive were not consulted. The union was not consulted.”
In a statement signed by David K Yeboah, Samuel W. Agyeman, the Union Chairman and Assistant Secretary respectively, the union asserted, that “This level of secrecy alone raises grave national concern.
They speak of strategic investors but the workers union see through the facade. What is unfolding bears all the signs of a rushed privatization. If GIADEC and the sector Ministry believe the union is mistaken, then the responsible action is simple. Halt all proceedings immediately and provide full transparency to prove otherwise. Instead, this process is being conducted in thick darkness and under a cloud of secrecy.
How can a cornerstone company like VALCO be pushed toward sale within a single month as though it were a common bicycle.”
Stay tuned.
