Ghanaian company put on spot after its board members increased their salaries and monthly allowances by 400% without approval

This follows an audit report from the Auditor General’s Department.

According to the report, since the new board took over the operations of the company between 2016 and 2017, the monthly fees of the board chair and members have seen some 400% increment.

According to an audit into the operations of the company, monthly fees have seen some 400% increment since the new board took over.

The allowance for the board chair which stood at $125.95 (GH₵650) jumped to $581.32 (GH₵3000) while that of members which was $112.39 (GH₵580) has ballooned to $387.55 (GH₵2000).

The report said, “Our review of the first (1st) minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of the Company held on Thursday, September 21, 2017 disclosed that the Board increased their monthly fee, and sitting allowances by themselves instead of seeking approval from members at a general meeting,” adding that, “The monthly fee was increased from $125.95 (GHC650) for Chairman and $112.39 (GH₵580) for members to $581.32 (GH₵3,000) and $387.55 (GH₵2,000), respectively. The sitting allowance was also increased from $113.64 (GHC600) for Chairman and $94.70 (GH₵500) for members to $189.39 (GH₵1000) for both chairman and his members.”

The report further said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Frances Essiam arbitrarily increased the salary of staff without recourse to procedure.

“The CEO of the Company, arbitrarily increased the salary and wages of the workers by 30% to 50%. She again increased the number of workers from 36 to 59 without approval from the governing board, or reference to any approved salary structure and scheme of service.”

This, according to the report resulted in an increase of the Wage bill astronomically, from $8,434.05 (GH₵44,531.81) in June 2017 to $21,288.78 (GH₵112,404.78) as at December 2017.