Staff of Excellence In Broadcasting (EIB) Network, the media organisation owned by Ghana’s former Finance Minister, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor are wailing in anguish because they have not been paid salaries for an incredible 12-month period, Whatsup News has gathered.
EIB which was founded in 2014, is headed by media personality, Nathan Kwabena Adisi, alias “Bola Ray”, who has reportedly been bombarded with constant complaints of non-payment of salaries by staff, leading to some key staff resigning to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
It appears the misfortune of the company started when the opposition NDC lost power in 2016 and the successor New Patriotic Party (NPP) started targeting companies owned by prominent figures in the NDC.
The woes of Dr. Duffour would worsen when the Akufo Addo’s NPP launched an inquisition-like banking sector cleanup which resulted in the bankruptcy of Unibank, the major banking interest owned by Dr. Duffour.
According to reports picked up by Whatsup News, the company had failed to fulfill countless promises it had made to settle arrears owed its staff and its staff are livid with these broken promises by Bola Ray and Dr. Duffour, who is reportedly gunning for the Presidential Ticket of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) IN 2024.
Some staff have complained that their near indentured servitude has broken the marriages and families of some of them.
“Management has not demonstrated that it is committed to paying the salary arrears owed us. The situation is worsening by the day. Despite the financial difficulties we find ourselves in, we still work hard to the best of our ability to keep both our TV and radio stations operational and very competitive,” a staff complained bitterly to newsmen on condition of anonymity.
“If Management wakes up one fine morning and finds out that both our TV and Radio presenters have boycotted work, maybe then they will sit up and find money to pay us.”
Another staff said emotionally: “The non-payment of salaries has turned some of us who have no other means of income into beggars. We always have to beg others to enable us take care of our families and this is eroding our self-confidence and dignity. Some of my colleagues who are owing people so much have sadly developed high blood pressure because they are always thinking and having sleepless nights.”
Most of the staff work for the various subsidiary media outlets owned by the EIB, including Starr FM, Live Xtra, Kasapa FM, GHOne TV and Agoo TV (all in Accra); Ultimate FM and Abusua FM (in Kumasi); Empire FM and Radio 360 (in Takoradi), Agoo FM (in Nkawkaw), the Daily Heritage Newspaper (also in Accra), among others.