Maxwell Okamafo Addo Writes: Do Not Disgrace The Man Feeding You For Political Reasons

There have been recent media reports surrounding Excellence In Broadcasting (EIB) workers whose claims of nine (9) months of unpaid salaries have now become the basis for orchestrated media attacks on the person of the majority shareholder of the network, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, by all manner of persons including other journalists in other media houses.

Interestingly, this misleading report of unpaid salaries of EIB workers has become a source for opposition research by some members of the NDC - mainly supporters of former President John Mahama - who perceive Dr. Kwabena Duffuor as a clear and present internal threat to his fourth attempt at the Presidency since 2012.

How Did All This Come About?

It has become apparent that Dr Duffuor is lacing his boots to contest NDC’s 2024 flagbearership.

Ahead of his official announcement, he has launched the Ahotor project worth 10m Ghc for the NDC grassroots. This has made President John Mahama’s supporters feel uneasy.

As a result, these people have sought all manner of information they can use to try to discredit Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.
At the same time, the EIB managers whose duty it is to solve all management issues are rather mute over the matter as opponents drag Kwabena Duffuor’s name in the mud.

It has become apparent that some EIB managers whose livelihoods have been sustained for the past 7 years by the owner of the stations are rather the ones allegedly actively supplying false information to the political opponents of Dr. Duffuor to make his support for the NDC look hypocritical.
 
Why do these managers of EIB think that they are entitled to Kwabena Duffuor’s campaign funds?

What is the record of these EIB managers? Have they managed to make any profits for their shareholders and for their own salaries in the past 7 years?

It is alleged that they have not even generated enough revenue to pay themselves. It is even surprising that Dr. Kwabena Duffuor hasn’t sacked these ingrates at EIB who are trying so hard to destroy the image of the man responsible for their daily bread all for John Mahama who cannot employ them if they’re sacked today.

It has been revealed that these EIB managers have created two streams of income for themselves; allowances and salaries. Aside from their alleged fat salaries, the allowance of each of these EIB managers is huge enough to pay the salaries of many workers as they’re among the highest earners in the media management sector.

It is only greed that will make the EIB management take such ridiculously high amounts of allowances while allowing ordinary workers of some of the stations to go without salary for months.

It is therefore laughable that these are the same people telling their media and political friends that they’re owed salary arrears for 9 months.

The full story is that these EIB managers continue to pay themselves and others fat allowances while crying foul over unpaid salaries. In any case, aren’t they responsible for working to generate revenue to pay themselves and even pay dividends to shareholders? So who are they deceiving? And what motivates them to continue to go to work every day for 9 months if they’re owed a salary?

 Isn’t it the management that rather owes the EIB workers’ salaries and continues to deny the shareholders returns on their investment?
 
We know that Dr. Kwabena Duffuor has several interests besides his recent media business. He is a philanthropist, banker, politician, farmer, religious man and so on.

Recently, he undertook an initiative to renovate the Trekume basic school in the Anloga district of the Volta region.  Should Dr. Kwabena Duffuor abandon the Trekume school renovation until all EIB workers are paid since they feel so entitled to all his personal resources?

In the wake of this self-entitlement mentality from the EIB workers, Duffuor has focused on grassroots activities of the NDC. The EIB workers now feel that they are more deserving of Dr. Duffuor’s funds than the NDC party itself that he’s a key financier of.

They have also created the false impression that the former governor of the Bank of Ghana is a bad manager of the EIB network when in fact Dr. Duffuor is an investor waiting in vain for returns and is neither responsible for managing the EIB media network nor for paying its workers. That is the job of the EIB management.  And if they have failed at it, let them own up.

These EIB managers are among the most well-paid of all the media managers in Ghana. They drive some of the most luxurious cars in the country and live in luxury homes yet their greed will not allow them to show any iota of gratitude to the man who has given them the opportunity.
 
The Blind Politics Behind The Fake News

As stated earlier, many of us can see clearly that these issues came up only because of rumours of a possible 2024 Presidential bid within the opposition NDC by Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.

This has been made even much clearer by the people who have taken delight in highlighting the so-called salary arrears issues at EIB and directly linking it with the NDC’s Ahotor business project which is a private donation to the NDC grassroots by Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.
 
Some Journalists Crying More Than The Bereaved?

Following the misconception created by this false and misleading story about EIB workers, some other journalists from other media houses have jumped into the fray to blindly throw shade at Dr. Kwabena Duffuor while pretending to be fighting for the welfare of their colleagues. Number one among them is the Metro TV journalist Bridget Otoo, who reportedly linked the issue to politics and vowed never to vote for a man like Dr. Kwabena Duffuor for failing to pay his workers. 

If Bridget Ottoo knew how much some of the EIB staff she’s crying for earn in allowances alone, she’ll be inclined to listen to the advice of Manasseh Azure who wrote that ‘’if you’re a journalist, one thing you should be careful about is fighting for journalists in another media house. It’s deadly’’.

And if she earned a fragment of the allowance of the EIB managers, she probably won’t be trying to sell cement as a part-time hustle besides her media job. This is why it is important for some of these overzealous Mahama supporters to look before they leap.