Some of the MMT demonstrators
Passengers using Metro Mass Transit (MMT) buses across the country were disappointed on Wednesday, as the workers staged a massive protest against the Managing Director, Bennett Aboagye.
The workers kicked against what they described as poor working conditions.
The workers said the company had sanctioned the purchase of a $105,000 (GH¢450,000) luxurious vehicle for the Managing Director at a time when over 100 buses required urgent maintenance.
Clad in red with others wielding placards with various inscriptions, the workers said they wanted the government to stop the purchase of the vehicle with immediate effect.
The protests had brought all other activities at the company to a halt.
Workers Union Chairman, Emmanuel Awatey, told Joy Fm Wednesday that the management had not shown much concern about the plight of the company.
He said their workshops are loaded with broken down vehicles that have not been repaired because of lack of spare parts.
“Every time they say they don’t have money but they are going to buy the vehicle for the MD and were able to pay a consultant who is a pharmacist GH¢9,000,” Mr Emmanuel Awatey stated.
He said the company owes Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) an amount of GH¢10,000 of fuel supply and that no attempt had been made to defray it.
The situation was not different in Kumasi as the angry workers at the Kumasi Depot decided to lay down their tools in a sit-down strike.
The staff embarked on the 24-hour industrial action due to several factors, which they believe are not ensuring the growth of the transport company.
Passengers who trooped to Abrepo Junction in Kumasi, where the MMT depot is situated, got disappointed as they could not get buses to travel on.
The numerous MMT buses had been grounded, whilst the angry workers were seen hovering around, without attending to the confused passengers.
After waiting for a while, the troubled passengers were left with no other option than to move away and seek alternative means of traveling to their respective destinations.
Godfred Amo, Union Secretary at the Kumasi Depot, stated that the new MD does not care about the welfare of the workers.
According to him, the four months’ stay in office of the new MD had not produced any change or improvement in the lives of the agitated staff.
Mr. Amo, who was speaking on Ashh FM, said the MD wanted to buy a US$105,000 worth of customized official vehicle for his personal use.
He noted that from all indications, the new MD had not displayed any sign of solving the problems facing the workers and also improve the company.
In this regard, he stated that the sit-down strike was intended to draw the attention of the government to do something about the MD.
Meanwhile, one Samson, a worker at the Kumasi Depot, said the day’s sit-down strike was unnecessary, reading political meaning into it.
According to him, the new MD had implemented new policies that had blocked the loopholes through which the union members used to milk the coffers of the MMT.
Samson noted that those who engineered the strike action belong to the past government and were feeling the heat of the new MD’s strict policies.
He noted that the leaders of the strike want the government to oust the new MD so that they could revert to their old ways to dissipate the MMT coffers.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi