A scathing petition has been submitted to the Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), accusing Keda Ghana Ceramics Company Limited of engaging in a “deliberate, organized, and prolonged act of corporate lawlessness.”
The company, a major player in Ghana’s ceramics industry under the One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) initiative, is alleged to have systematically evaded its statutory obligations under Ghana’s National Pensions Act and Income Tax Act between 2016 and 2023.
According to the petition, authored by Dr. David Yevugah, a former employee and stakeholder, Keda Ghana Ceramics’ leadership, particularly Managing Director Mr. Lorry Lei and a team of Chinese managers, orchestrated a scheme that denied over 4,000 Ghanaian workers their rightful pension contributions and deprived the state of millions of cedis in taxes. The company allegedly failed to remit the mandatory 13.5% pension contributions for its employees and did not deduct and remit income taxes to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The petition alleges that workers were misclassified as “casual staff” for extended periods to avoid triggering statutory obligations, in clear contravention of labour laws. Over 4,000 workers, particularly in the Engineering and Electrical (E&E) departments, were subjected to these exploitative practices, many of whom left the company with no contributions paid into their pension accounts.
Despite the alleged violations, Keda Ghana Ceramics reportedly benefited from substantial government support, including a tax exemption of US$13.5 million under the 1D1F programme. The petition questions the level of due diligence conducted before granting such incentives, warning that rewarding non-compliant companies undermines public trust.
The petition calls for a full forensic audit of the company’s employment and payroll systems from 2016 to 2023, legal action against Keda and its leadership for non-compliance and fraud, recovery of unpaid SSNIT and tax contributions with applicable penalties, and inter-agency collaboration between SSNIT, GRA, EOCO, and the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The petition has sparked growing calls for investigations into the company’s operations and broader scrutiny of foreign companies operating under Ghana’s flagship industrialisation programmes.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com
