David Asante condemns Peter Otukunor’s comment about Assembly Press

The Managing Director of the Ghana Publishing Company Limited, David Asante, has condemned comments made by the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) impugning his credibility and the state owned Assembly Press.

The NDC’s Peter Otokunor had intimated that the company could sabotage the party’s upcoming presidential elections if it is given the contract to print the ballot papers because of the Managing Director’s apparent affiliations to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He made the comments after six flagbearer candidates asked the party to award the contract for the printing of the ballot papers to a trustworthy firm such as the Assembly Press, to prevent a reoccurrence of the irregularities that rocked the party’s national executive election in November 2018.

[contextly_sidebar id=”g3brYECdiNBXPdKr3o5hbl0pW79lg4JG”]Speaking to Citi News. However, David Asante says even though the firm is offended by the comments, it is willing to accept any work from the party, even at a discounted rate.

“If the NDC as a politician to be the flagbearer of the party have expressed the desire that it makes a lot of sense think of their living to give the press work to the state-owned printing company, then there is a lot of wisdom in the position that the men have taken.”

“The deputy General Secretary’s statement is uncalled for, divisive, must be condemned and he must come again. We want to put it on record that, the institution in the last year has not been politicised. Let the NDC come, and we will give them a better deal and discount if they so desire,” he added.

Debts created by NDC

Although David Asante said the government is revamping the company by clearing accumulated debts it owed, he accused the NDC of mismanaging the company during its tenure of office.

“This is a company that was saddled with over four million tax liability that the previous NDC leadership failed to pay. The company was heavily indebted, but we have now cleared all arrears and have put the company on the proper footing so that it meets modern standards in printing and publishing.”

He, therefore, called on the current leadership of the opposition party to come back and observe the developmental milestone of the firm.

“We are rather officially inviting the leadership of the NDC to come and take a tour of the company and compare it to how they left it two years ago. We are not calling for an apology; we are just inviting them so they see what the potential flag bearers are calling for.”

We are ready to meet your publishing needs

In a separate statement by the management of the company, it said the comments made against the company will not prevent it from delivering on its mandate.

Management also assured the public that is will carry out its duties without any party colourisation.

“Public confidence in the Ghana Publishing Company Limited is on the rise, and it is in this vein that we find the comments about the Managing Director and the Company at large rather disturbing and unacceptable. This new-found confidence can be directly linked to the efforts of the present administration to transform the Company into a modern printing and publishing establishment. Comments such as those attributed to Mr. Otukunor will not derail our efforts to produce quality service to Ghana.”

“We want to assure the public, irrespective of what political disposition one belongs to, that Ghana Publishing Company Limited is capable and ready to meet your printing and publishing needs. We will also take this opportunity to inform corporate bodies and all political parties that we are open to transact business at competitive and discounted rates, the statement added.

Ghana Publishing Company Limited is the sole institution mandated by law to publish the Ghana Gazette and the printing and gazetting of legislative documents such as Acts, Legislative Instruments (LI) and Executive Instruments (EI).

It is therefore rather unfortunate that a political activist will make such unsavoury comments about an institution which plays such a crucial role in Ghana’s governance framework.

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By: Nii Larte Lartey & Ann-Shirley Ziwu | citinewsroom.com |Ghana