The Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG, Isaac Bampoe Addo, and the association’s former President, Dr Evans Agbeme Dzikum, have been exposed for allegedly listing themselves as the beneficial owners of Pempamsie Hotel Limited.
CLOGSAG operates a number of income-generating ventures, with the Pempamsie Hotel Limited being one of them.
Also, CLOGSAG Band, the Nathan Quao Auditorium, to provide welfare support and financial stability for civil and local government workers.
CLOGSAG Pempamsie Hotel Limited is located in Cape Coast and was incorporated in 2012 as a private company limited by shares and began operations in August 2013.
Reports suggest the incorporation documents show the Pempamsie Hotel Limited’s entire shareholding (100%) is held by CLOGSAG, which is owned by 100,000 equity shares valued at GHC100,000.
Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) records show that Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG, Isaac Bampoe Addo, and the association’s former President, Dr Evans Agbeme Dzikum, listed themselves as beneficial owners of the hotel in 2022.
The revelations have sparked anger among members of the union over alleged exploitation of office, diversion of incomes, and lack of clarity in the management of union-owned businesses.
Several CLOGSAG members have revealed they have received paltry payments in membership benefits despite years of contributions.
The aggrieved CLOGSAG members have declared Mr. Bampoe Addo and Dr Dzikum have no right or mandate to register themselves as beneficial owners of a business owned by the association.
Prince Latif Oyekunle, the group’s spokesperson, stated, “This is very bad, and it is a complete abuse of office, pure injustice.”
“How can the Executive Secretary and former President list themselves as beneficial owners of property owned by the entire union, if not because of selfish interest?” he asked.
“These are assets financed by the collective dues of civil and local government workers. The profits should go back to the members, not into private pockets,” Mr. Oyekunle added.
Also, Kofi Bentil, a legal practitioner, has said the listing of CLOGSAG executives as beneficial owners of a company wholly owned by the union raises substantial legal and moral red flags.
According to him, the beneficial owner is the ultimate person who enjoys the control and economic benefits of a business.
Kofi Bentil stated, “If the union owns the business 100%, then nobody else can be a beneficial owner of it. If someone is listed separately as a beneficial owner, it’s either a clerical error or a red flag.”
“If the business is funded by union dues, then union members are the rightful beneficiaries, not individual leaders,” he added.
He added, “If they used their position to take proceeds from what doesn’t belong to them, that’s a criminal act. They can be prosecuted and jailed. The union or its members can sue to recover any benefits wrongly taken”.
The aggrieved members are demanding an independent external audit of all CLOGSAG assets and businesses, the spokesperson stated, “The dues we pay monthly must be protected. We deserve to know how our money and assets are being used”.
Furthermore, documents at the ORC reveal that Pempamsie Hotel Limited has not complied with statutory filing requirements since its incorporation in 2012.
It has been revealed that they only filed annual returns once in 2018, which was incomplete.
Meanwhile, the information gathered reveals CLOGSAG, with 100,000 members nationwide, receives not less than GHC3 million monthly in dues.