Monrovia — Aggrieved employees of the Royal Communications Incorporated (RCI), owned by former Liberian President George Manneh Weah, have staged a go slow action in demand for the payment of their nearly five months’ salary arrears owed them by the management.
Established in 2004, RCI comprises of Kings 88.5FM, City 90.2 and Clar TV Channel 5.
Both City FM 90.2 and Clar Tv Channel 5 have been off the airwaves for more than four years now.
But the aggrieved employees resolved to stay away from work at the only on-air station (King’s FM), due to the alleged failure of the station management to settle their arrears.
The institution is being managed by one Mr. Martin Tweh, a relative of former President Weah. However, former Assistant Minister for Logistics at the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs James Emmanuel Potter and Abraham Siafa Kromah alias “King Buju” were assigned at the station to serve as Consultants to spearhead its operations in the midst of an appointed Manager.
Kromah is the butler of Mr. Weah.
Speaking to FrontPage Africa on Tuesday, May 7, the aggrieved employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that they are experiencing severe hardship and harsh economic conditions due to the failure of the station’s management to pay their legitimate salaries.
They complained that their children have been sent home from schools, while some of them have been thrown out of their rented rooms and apartments as a result of the situation.
They added that the situation has also compelled them to credit huge sum of monies from local money exchangers at their work place and in their various communities.
The aggrieved RCI employees maintained that many of them have also dropped from studying at various private universities due to the delay by their station’s management to pay their salaries.
“As for me, I am not in college this semester because I don’t have money to pay my fees. Emmanuel Potter who was supervising the President’s scholarship program both home and abroad did not even provide one scholarship for anyone here since Weah was President,” one of the aggrieved employee stated.
Another averred: “For weeks now, I cannot even buy my five years old daughter a pack for her tablet because there is no money. Every day I go home, she keeps asking and embarrassing me for it. I don’t want for my daughter to grow and see me as an irresponsible father. All we need now is our salaries.”
Who’s supervising station’s account?
The Royal Communications Incorporated reportedly has an account at the Afriland Bank Liberia Limited in Monrovia.
Monies generated by the station’s management for airing of jingles, talk shows and other programs are being remitted into the station’s account.
The Station’s Manager is not a signatory to the account.
Following the ascendancy of George Weah to the Liberian presidency, some corporations, including the National Port Authority (NPA) and the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP), amongst other signed mouth-watering deals with the station.
The amount of US$3500 was being paid by the NPA for the upkeep of the station during the administration of its former Managing Director Bill Twehway.
On a quarterly basis, monies were reportedly deposited into the station’s accounts. However, the surreptitious withdrawal of the funds from the account is leaving the station to bankruptcy.
The contract signed with the station by the NPA was cancelled following the inception of the Unity Party led-government of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
The aggrieved employees have been questioning the signatories to the station’s bank account since in fact, conflicting accounts have been provided to them on who authorizes funds to be released from the account.
One account points finger at former President Weah for being the A signatory to the account who authorizes disbursement of funds which normally go towards the payment of salaries.
Another account alleged that one of the two Consultants (Potter and Kromah) are signatories to the account.
“Since January we have not taken pay. How do they expect us to survive and feed our families?, one of the employees maintained.”
Not benefitting
The aggrieved employees, many of whom have been working at RCI for more than five to 15 years, also raised concerns over the lack of motivation and benefits at the institution.
They claimed that despite the ascendancy of their CEO, Mr. Weah to the Liberian presidency, they have not benefitted anything as employees of the station.
They complained that they have turned to “laughing stock” in their respective communities due to the wasteful years they spent propagating the agenda of the ex-Liberian leader and the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), even prior to his ascendancy to the presidency.
“What do I have to show to my children or friends that I am working for a former President’s station? Nothing. We received a lot of insults from people in our communities during and after the elections because of former President Weah. But we don’t have anything to show for that.”
They observed that their colleagues at other pro-Weah media institutions, including Freedom FM, immensely benefitted from Mr. Weah and his closed associates during the past government, but they who are working at RCI have nothing to show.
Closed associates responsible
The aggrieved employees blamed closed associates of the former Liberian leader for being the masterminds of their sufferings at the institution.
They made specific reference to James Emmanuel Potter, Pepci Yeke, and Abraham Siafa Kromah, amongst others.
Yeke, former Executive Director of the Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), previously served as Station Manager at Royal Communications Incorporated.
They pointed out that though they exerted efforts to reach closed associates of former President Weah, nothing has been done to address their plights.
They accused these closed associates of creating a barricade around their CEO, thereby preventing them from seeing him on a regular basis.
Halting ongoing renovation
Abraham Godsent Wheon, Manager of Freedom FM, is reportedly spearheading renovation works at the television studio and other areas at Royal Communications Incorporated to the utmost surprise of its employees.
There are reports that Mr. Wheon reportedly received money from the station’s CEO to carry out the task. He has also been tipped to become the new Manager of the station.
But aggrieved employees of the station have halted the ongoing renovation works in demand for the payment of their salaries.
They claimed that it doesn’t make sense for the institution to be given a facelift while they do not have anything home to feed their families.
“Beginning today, we have put stop to the ongoing renovation works at the station. We told the workers to go and tell Abraham Wheon. In fact, we don’t even know his status here yet.”
Poor electricity supply
The aggrieved employees further complained that normal broadcast activities are normally disrupted following power outage from the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC).
They added that due to the lack of funding, management cannot provide fuel to run the only standby generator at the institution.
As a result of this, they stated that, businesses are refusing to renew or sign contracts with the station.
“The station cannot even reach far away and people are refusing to do business with us. Who will do business with a station that will be on for one hour and goes off the entire day and comes on late the following day? We used to receive money from NPA but right now, we don’t even know whether there is money in our account to pay us.”
They also complained that they have never been given the opportunity to meet with their CEO, ex-President Weah to express their grievances and outline their plights, though they have made multiple visitations at his residence and the CDC party’s headquarters respectively.
Threat of protest
The aggrieved RCI employees emphasized that their go-slow action to disengage from all working and operational activities would take another dimension if their CEO and management failed to address their plights.
They, however, vowed to stage a protest in front of their premises on Front Street in Monrovia beginning this Thursday, May 9, and extend to the residence of former President Weah if their calls fall on deaf ears.
They are calling for the management to upgrade the station, pay them off, maintain or hire new employees at the station.
The Manager of RCI Martin Tweh reportedly held a meeting with the aggrieved staff on Tuesday to discourage them from staging the go-slow action.
However, his efforts did not materialize as the aggrieved employees were already resolved to carry on their action.
RCI, which is one of the oldest media institutions in Liberia, has been crippling behind other institutions due to poor management and the lack of adequate support to put the station on par with others.
The institution, which is the only known business owned by former President George Manneh Weah in Liberia, would go bankrupt tainting the legacy of Mr. Weah if immediate actions are not taken to discourage the employees from staging a protest and going amok.
Already, employees of Royal Communications are on record for staging protest, holding placards, in front of the premises of their institution few years into the presidency of their CEO.
The intervention of former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, through the provision of a vehicle to the station and the payment of salaries, prevented the protest from escalating.
Former President Weah has consistently failed to play an oversight role over his institution by engaging the management and calling for meetings to hear from aggrieved employees of the station despite being briefed on happenings there via media reports or text messages.
There are also reports that those appointed as Consultants at the institution have not muster the courage to outline the facts to former President Weah so that sustainable actions can be taken to mitigate the situation and address the plights of the aggrieved employees.
