The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, has given critics of the GT-Vodafone deal 24 hours to provide alternatives that would salvage the company. He also challenged critics to provide the names of their transaction advisers and the value they placed on Ghana Telecom. Speaking with the Daily Graphic, Mr. Baah-Wiredu said the company, which he described as strategic, had only $167 million in its accounts and, therefore, an additional $199 million was needed to cater for equipment, advertisements, stationery, fuel, as well as salaries and pensions of its workers. He said the company's current financial state and the future of the 4,200 workers were endangered and asked opponents of the GT- Vodafone deal not to hold them to ransom. "The employees of Ghana Telecom cannot be held to ransom. They are Ghanaians and their continuous employment must be assured," he said, adding that "their continuous employment would be guaranteed if Ghana Telecom is linked to Vodafone". He said the government had not shortchanged Ghana Telecom in any way in the transactions and that the transaction would move the company forward, as well as bring about healthy competition in the telecom sector. He said the company could collapse if its 70 per cent shares were not sold to Vodafone. Accoding to him, in West Africa and in most part of the world, it was only Ghana Telecom that was operating without an international partner and that things could not continue to remain so. Mr. Baah-Wiredu noted that Ghanaians would continue to dominate the daily affairs of the company and gave further assurance that the government would retain 30 per cent shares in the company. According to the minister, the government announced its intentions of privatising Ghana Telecom in its November 2005 budget statement and therefore critics had been given enough time to provide better options to saving Ghana Telecom from collapse. He said the government had publicly declared its buyer and the amount the buyer had offered and further stated that its transaction adviser was Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC). The minister further argued that the sale of GT to Vodafone was justified because the price offer was the best compared with other companies that had offered to purchase 70 per cent shares. "We are convinced Vodafone's $900-million offer does not amount to cheating," Mr Baah-WIredu emphasised. He named the other companies that put in their bid for Ghana Telecom as France Telecom, Portugal Telecom and Vodacom of South Africa. He said France Telecom offered $546 million while Portugal Telecom and Vodacom offered $508 million and $363 million respectively for 70 per cent shares in Ghana Telecom. Mr Baah-WIredu further explained that even if the $30 million in the National Communication Backbone Company and the $55.5 million in the Volta River Authority's Fibre Optic known as Voltacom, were added to the offers of the other three telecom companies, their offer would not match that of Vodafone. In any case, the minister stated, the government valued Ghana Telecom at ¢ 1.286 billion and it was only Vodafone that offered 70 per cent of that value. He, therefore, challenged critics to bring their offer on board for a healthy debate and also reminded them that there was no time to waste because Ghana Telecom was in dire need of funds to operate. Source: Daily Graphic