“ YOU MONKEYS” General Manager tells Ghanaian workers.

It has become a well-worn ritual among some expatriate companies operating in Ghana - the wrongful dismissals of workers and counter accusations of framing up and verbal abuses.
A former employee of Red Back Mining Company based in Bibiani, Lawrence Adu, is holding a list of complaints ready to appear before the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to prove he had been abused and wrongfully dismissed by the company.
According to a petition lodged with CHRAJ Adu argues that he was sacked because he complained when an expatriate officer, Rob White called him and three other workers (Emmanuel Egpemenyo, Emmanuel Dzokoto and Benjamin) ‘ fuck you monkeys.’
Mr. Adu said, “I can say with all confidence that my appointment was terminated not because I was incompetent but because I reported Mr. Rob White, the Environmental and Safety Manager of Chirano Gold Mines, a subsidiary of Red Back, for insulting (us) four Ghanaians “monkeys”.
In the petition dated May 19, 2005 and copied to Public Agenda, Adu hopes that CHRAJ will look into the circumstances surrounding his appointment and wrongful dismissal and take the appropriate action against the company and Rob White, who abused them.
When the Ghana Chamber of Mines was contacted, its Executive Secretary, Miss Joice Aryeeh confirmed that the complainant petitioned CHARAJ and copied the Chamber of Mines. Miss Aryee added that since CHRAJ had the mandate to handle such cases, the chamber could only wait for CHRAJ to announce its decision. For three weeks now since this paper started investigating the case, the company’s telephone number (072-977710) on the letter head of Adu’s dismissal letter has been busy.
According to his petition Adu was employed as a Caretaker in Red Back Mining’s office in Accra, which doubles as a guesthouse and has worked there diligently, until he was fired for alleged incompetence.

His petition said on April 26, 2005, he and with his three colleagues were working on an ambulance at the company’s office in Accra under the supervision of Mr. Rob White, when suddenly, White flared up and insulted them, “fuck you monkeys”.
He said he initially reported the case to the office manger who told him there was nothing he could about it. “On the same day, I made a formal report to Mr. Francis Agezo, a Ghanaian manager, who confronted White, but he denied ever calling them ‘monkeys’.”
The petition said subsequently, Mr. Norm Baiden, a white geologist questioned all four of them about the insults which they confirmed. But Mr. White once again denied the allegation
According to the petition exactly two weeks after he (Adu), reported the incident, Mr. White returned to Accra and lodged in hotel because the company’s guesthouse was full.
Adu said, two days after Mr. White had left Accra, precisely on May 12, 2005, the office manager called him and told him that White had reported that someone had stolen $600 from his room and that he (Adu) was the suspect.
“I vehemently denied stealing the money. In fact on that particular occasion of Mr. White’s visit he did not lodge at the guesthouse. How then could he lose money from his room?” he asked in the petition.
Adu argued that the office manager was aware Mr. White had many female friends who visited him frequently. “In my view, these girls should be the first suspects”, he argued.
He said the next day the office manager handed him a letter, which stated that he had been fired for incompetence.
“I wish to state that my work and conduct since I started working with Red Back have been impeccable. No guest has ever complained about my work. I have never been queried about my performance or conduct.”
He said even Mr. White had given him gifts for his hard work and subservience in carrying out duties even outside his official hours such as ‘finding girls for him’.
Cases of abuse of Ghanaian workers by expatriate employers abound. A couple of years ago, a Malaysian manager of Ghana Telecom spat on a Ghanaian worker. And quite recently, a Dutch contractor defecated into a bucket and used it to fetch water for his Ghanaian workers to drink. When the crime was uncovered, he was briefly detained and deported.
Section 63, paragraph 4 of the Labour Act 2003, (Act 651) states that a termination may be unfair if the employer fails to prove that: (a) the reason for the termination is fair or the termination was made in accordance with a fair procedure of the act.
After such complaints are made to CHRAJ, they are forwarded to the National Labour Commission which in turn sends a letter to the employer to respond. The commission looks into the matter and subsequently makes a determination. Remedies include re-employment, reinstatement or payment of compensation.