Peter Mac Manu
The Board Chairman of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Peter Mac-Manu, has threatened to take legal action against the Chairman of the Senior Staff Union of the authority and the members if they fail to retract and apologise for defaming him.
A precautionary letter written by his solicitors to the chairman of the Senior Staff Union has been sighted by DAILY GUIDE.
Mr Mac Manu described the allegations as “highly defamatory and toxic to his reputation, which he as a businessman and politician, has worked tirelessly over many decades to build.”
The junior and staff unions of GPHA last month leveled allegations against the board chairman, accusing him of corruption and conflict of interest.
On Friday, May 26, 2018, the Senior and Junior Staff Unions of GPHA, asked President Akufo-Addo to immediately terminate the appointment of Mr Mac Manu.
They accused him of obtaining a contract of about GH?4 million to wire the newly-constructed electrical and materials block at GPHA and facilitating a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project.
They also accused him of asking the authority to pay $200,000 for 25 years as part of the project.
“He has seven companies at the ports, five stevedore companies and two cleansing companies. He is using his position to circumvent the procurement process in order to acquire a tug boat (Tema Manhean), the spare parts have been procured to refurbish this tug boat,” they alleged.
Mr. Mac Manu, who set the records straight in Accra last week, pointed out that the allegations were made to tarnish his image and label the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government as corrupt.
At the press conference, Mr Manu challenged the union members to mention the names of his children, who are major suppliers to the authority.
The GPHA board chairman, in a bid to protect his hard-earned reputation, has asked his solicitors to serve notice to the leadership of the workers’ union to retract the baseless allegations and apologise for impugning his reputation.
“As you may be aware our client has served and continues to serve in various high-profile capacities both in private and public service locally and internationally. Your malevolent and unwarranted allegations have therefore caused him a great deal of reputational damage,” it said.
“By this letter, should you fail to meet our client’s demands within 10 working days from the date of this letter, we have unequivocal instructions to take all necessary legal steps, including but limited to commencing legal action against you and the unions involved to salvage our client’s reputation.”
By Gibril Abdul Razak