The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Railways Development Authority, Dr. Frederick Appoh, is strongly advocating for the merger of his outfit and the Ghana Railway Company Limited.
He said maintaining two separate entities is not sustainable.
He argued that with the current rail line spanning less than 135 kilometers, it is not sustainable to maintain two separate entities, and called for a unified front from the Ghana Railway Company Limited to support this course of action.
“Whether you like it or not, it must be one entity we cannot have two. Once we have between 500 and 1,000 kilometers of rail lines in place, and our maintenance and asset management are on point meaning we are properly maintaining and looking after our assets then we can consider vertical separation.
By then, we should be generating enough revenue from haulage to pay ourselves and make our own decisions. So, if we decide to have a regulator, the funding should come from our operations not from the government appointing a CEO. That will come from within the institution.
We need to figure out how to work together, and that’s something I must emphasize to everyone here. Because the more we sit back unconcerned and just talk about it, I’ll keep chasing salaries they get paid, then months later, arrears pile up again. That is not sustainable.” Dr. Appoh added.
Dr Appoh
This comes on the back of numerous challenges facing the sector, including irregular payment of salary to staff.
Dr. Appoh has, however, indicated that government support is far advanced for the release of approximately GH¢20.6 million by the end of February to cover four months’ salary arrears owed to railway workers.
This payment is part of the total eleven months in arrears.
“I will be at the Ministry of Finance pushing for the payment of 20.6 million cedis to be released—and, of course, looking into the remaining few months as well.” Dr. Appoh mentioned.
Addressing the Management of the Ghana Railway Company Limited in Takoradi during his two days working visit, Dr. Appoh stressed that they cannot sit idly by waiting for the government to pay their salaries.
Instead, they must make critical decisions regarding the company’s future and the long-term sustainability of the entire railway sector.
With a current workforce of approximately 1,060, Dr. Appoh stated that a decision must be made on how to rationalize the workforce to prevent the accumulation of further salary arrears, describing it as “a hard pill to swallow.”
On his part, the Managing Director of the Ghana Railway Company Limited, Ing. Dr. Michael Adjei Anyetei, commended the CEO’s efforts in securing four months’ salary arrears for the workers. He noted that, given the company’s current position, unity is essential for its progress.
“Unity is essential. Given where we are now, the noise doesn’t solve any problem it’s about the survival of the fittest. So unity is key. We must leave here as a united front so we can confront our issues together. As the CEO said, we need to be innovative and proactive in our operations.” He said.
