OSUMANU BRAIMAH AND COCOA SERVICES DIVISION [2000]DLCHRAJ5830

Date	2000-10-05
Suit No.	Our Ref: CHRAJ/476/97/44
Citation No.	[2000]DLCHRAJ5830

BENJAMIN K. OPPONG

[2000]DLCHRAJ5830
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" ><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;
mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;
color:#00B050">OSUMANU BRAIMAH<o:p></o:p>(COMPLAINANT)<o:p></o:p>AND<o:p></o:p><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;
mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;mso-bidi-font-family:&quot;Book Antiqua&quot;;
color:#00B050">COCOA SERVICES DIVISION<o:p></o:p>(RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>(CHRAJ)<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

Our
Ref: CHRAJ/476/97/44&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;05/10/2000<o:p></o:p>

</div>COMMISSIONER:<o:p></o:p>BENJAMIN
K. OPPONG DEPUTY COMMISSIONER LEGAL/OPERATIONS<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:5.0pt;text-align:center;
mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">DECISION<o:p></o:p>

</div>In
his complaint dated 25th August 1997, the complainant, Osumanu Braimah sought
the assistance of the Commission to claim from the respondent's compensation
for the termination of his appointment.<o:p></o:p>According
to the complainant, he was a Chief Cook/Assistant Canteen Supervisor with the
Cocoa Services Division of the COCOBOD prior to the termination of his
appointment by the respondents.<o:p></o:p>The
Complainant claims that the termination of his appointment was engineered by
one Victor Banu, the Transport Manager of the respondents who took a sum of
¢200,000.00 to purchase some spare parts for him (complainant) but who
{according to the complainant} had failed to make good on his promise. He accordingly
requested the Commission to investigate the circumstances of his termination
and also help him retrieve the sum of $200,000.00 from the said Victor Banu.<o:p></o:p>In
their response to the complaint, dated 8th December 1997, the respondents
stated that in March 1995, the complainant conspired with one Emmanuel Agyekum,
a non-employee of the respondents to sell an unserviceable bulk tanker
belonging to the respondents to a private petroleum haulier for the sum of
seven million five hundred thousand cedis. According to the respondent, the
complainant was queried and that, his response to the query having been found
to be unsatisfactory, a Disciplinary Committee was set up to investigate the
matter as required by their Collective Agreement.<o:p></o:p>The
respondents stated also that the complainant having been found by the
Disciplinary Committee to have been guilty of the offence, was liable to
summary dismissal under Article 15©(iii) of the Collective Agreement but that
Management decided to take a lenient view of the offence and thus terminated
his appointment.<o:p></o:p>The respondents further argued in respect
of the ¢2000,000.00 allegedly given to Victor Banu by the complainant, that it
was a private matter between the parties on which the respondent could not
comment.<o:p></o:p>Following
further enquiries by the Commission, the respondents further commented in a
letter dated 8th January, 1998, that there was no way Mr. Victor Banu could
have engineered the termination of the complainant's appointment. Their reason
was that he was not a member of the Committee, which investigated the matter
and as such could not have influenced the investigations. They also argued that
the bulk tank was originally hired out to Mr. Kwadwo Owusu, the same person who
purported to purchase it from the complainant. It was their case therefore that
Mr. Victor Bamu who was 'actively involved in the preparation of the agreement
would be involved in the illegal sale of the same item to the same man when all
documents on the hire were intact.<o:p></o:p>By the same token, the Commission finds it
extremely improbable that Mr. Kojo Owusu who had legally applied to purchase
the bulk tanker from the respondents as shown by the evidence would be involved
in the illegal purchase of the same item from the complainant.<o:p></o:p>There
is also evidence that the complainant had legally applied to purchase the bulk
tanker from the respondents and had been asked by them to take steps towards
the valuation of the tanker to enable the respondents sell the tanker to him.
This </main>