The challenge, he said, had made the one-time profitable company incapable of bidding for government printing jobs.

“Before 2008, the company had the exclusive right to print sensitive government jobs,” he said.

Answering questions before the PAC Mr Asante said: “Currently the Ghana Publishing Company is reeling from extreme poverty, to the extent that payment of staff salaries is a major problem.”

He was joined by other management members of the company to answer questions raised in the 2015 Auditor General’s report concerning issues relating to the accounts and operations of the company.

They were also interrogated on steps being taken to repackage the company to make it more viable and to bear the cost of its operations.

Activate exclusive rights

Mr Asante said the company was incorporated in March 1965 with an original function to print the administrative documents of the government, including sensitive contracts of the security agencies.

He said the company which was not on government subvention currently was converted to the Assembly Press in 2008 when the government at the time was of the opinion that 20 per cent of government printing works should be ceded to the organisation.

He was of the conviction that if the original exclusive rights of the company was activated, it would help turn its fortunes around.

“If the entire machine department is given proper attention and funds are invested to acquire sophisticated machines and equipment, then we can go out to compete with the private sector,” he said.

Answering a question as to whether the company could bid for government contracts, Mr Asante said the lack of equipment to execute modern printing contracts had made the national printing firm uncompetitive.

“For example, in the recent elections we were given one of the smallest regions to print materials for; the private companies finished their work ahead of schedule, while we struggled to complete our work, even though we finally produced quality work,” he added.

Public-private partnership

Responding to a question on whether management had considered borrowing to support the firm, Mr Asante said management was rather considering a public-private partnership.

On its huge operational cost, the Chief Accountant, Mr Stephen Bio, said because of the lack of funds to import materials for production, the company was forced to buy them from its competitors, a situation that had prevailed for a long time.

He added that per its collective agreement, the company adjusted employees’ salaries by 20 per cent in 2012, and that partly contributed to the huge operational cost of the firm.

“If you happen to see the salary of Ghana Publishing Company, no matter the increase in salary, it is still peanuts, since the 20 per cent increase did not take us anywhere,” the chief accountant added.