UNICOF turns to the Supreme Court to stop ADP IPO

Less than 24- hours after the labour division of an Accra High Court kicked denied the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers Union-UNICOF's application for an interlocutory injunction against the Agriculture Development Bank’s IPO, news reaching pulse.com.gh reveal that UNICOF have turned their attention to the supreme court.

The Union has filed a writ with the nation’s highest court to stop management of ADB from floating shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

The application is the second writ being filed by UNICOF in an attempt to halt the IPO. Earlier, the Union filed a writ with the court asking for a legal interpretation of the powers of the management of the bank in taking an action like the IPO.

The lawyer for UNICOF, Charles Bawaduah outlined why they are in court: “The bank as it were has signed two agreements with two foreign companies – ATLAS MARA Ltd. and Norwegian Fund for Developing Countries. And by this agreement the bank will give 25% and 15% respectively to ATLAS MARA and NORFINANCE. This agreement is our contention. It’s an international agreement and is a matter that ought to have come before Parliament of Ghana for approval and we are also saying that the decision alone to even issue shares at the Ghana Stock Exchange without seeking parliamentary approval contravenes the existing law.

“Apart from that we are also saying that as a union, we have been certified by the chief labour officer per the Labour Act of 2003 to negotiate matters affecting our members, affecting the workers of ADB, so management cannot unilaterally, and without recourse to any negotiation decide to launch the IPO without dealing with the issues we have raised and which affect our members,” he said ADB to float shares on the stock exchange without parliamentary approval.

Pulse.com.gh will keep you updated on further details as the story develops.