TIMBER OPERATIONS (GOVERNMENT
PARTICIPATION) DECREE, 1972 (NRCD
139)
As amended
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
1. Government to have majority
Shareholding in certain Timber
Companies.
2. Payment of fair compensation in
respect of Government Shares.
3. Government to facilitate
Transfer of Monies paid for
Government Shares.
4. Each Company to be in charge of
the Management of that Company.
5. Transitional Arrangement for
Marketing of Trade Marked Timber
Products.
6. Employees of Companies not to
Suffer Diminution in Conditions of
Service.
7. Commissioner to take action to
Implement Decree.
8. Offences.
9. Companies to Institute Training
Schemes.
10. Interpretation.
11. Commencement.
SCHEDULE
Schedule
WHEREAS it is in the interest of
national development and of the
well-being of the people of Ghana,
and it is in furtherance of the
general economic policy of the
National Redemption Council of
promoting self-reliance, that the
State assume a controlling
interest in the ownership of the
productive facilities employed in
the development of the natural
resources of Ghana, while at the
same time encouraging private
participation in such development
whether Ghanaian or foreign:
AND WHEREAS it is in the interest
of the people of Ghana that the
State secure a controlling equity
participation in operating timber
companies in Ghana:
NOW THEREFORE, in pursuance of the
provisions of the National
Redemption Council (Establishment)
Proclamation, 1972, this Decree is
hereby made—
Section 1—Government to have
Majority Shareholding in Certain
Timber Companies.
(1) With effect from the 1st day
of October, 1972, the equity
capital in each of the following
timber companies, namely—
(a) the Gliksten (West Africa)
Limited,
(b) the Takoradi Veneer and Lumber
Co. Limited (including the Timber
Division of R. T. Briscoe (Ghana)
Limited), and
(c) the African Timber and Plywood
(Ghana) Limited,
shall be held as respects
fifty-five per centum by the
Government and as respects
forty-five per centum by the
minority shareholder of each such
company respectively.
(2) The National Redemption
Council may by executive
instrument apply subsection (1) of
this section to any other timber
company and in the case of a
company to which the said
subsection is applied under this
subsection, the application shall
take effect from such date as may
be prescribed in the executive
instrument made in relation
thereto.
(3) Each of the said companies
shall respectively have a
governing Board comprising eight
members, five of whom shall be
appointed by the Government and
three by the minority shareholder
of each company respectively, and
the Chairman of the Board shall be
appointed by the Government.
(4) Each Company shall have a
Managing Director who shall be
appointed by the Government upon
the recommendation of the
Commissioner responsible for Lands
and shall hold office upon the
terms and conditions as the
Government may determine. [As
substituted by Timber Operations
(Government Participation)
(Amendment) Decree, 1976 (SMCD 9),
s. 1(a)]
Section 2—Payment of Fair
Compensation in Respect of
Government Shares.
(1) The Government shall in
accordance with this section pay
to the minority shareholder of
each of the companies referred to
in section 1 respectively fair
compensation in respect of the
equity capital held by the
Government by virtue of this
Decree.
(2) In respect of each company the
Government shall pay in cedis to
the minority shareholder of that
company, a sum equal to fifty-five
per centum of the total value of
assets described in subsection (3)
of this section over a period of
not less than five years from the
commencement of this Decree or as
the case may be from the date of
commencement of application to
that company of subsection (1) of
section 1 of this Decree and at an
interest rate not exceeding two
and a half per centum per annum.
(3) For the purposes of this
section the value of the total
assets of each company shall be
their net book value, that is to
say—
(a) fixed assets shall be valued
at their original cost less
reasonable depreciation up to the
date of commencement of this
Decree or as the case may be the
date of application to the company
in question of subsection (1) of
section 1 of this Decree; and
(b) current assets shall be valued
at their book value less provision
for bad and doubtful debts up to
the commencement of this Decree or
as the case may be the date of
application to the company in
question of subsection (1) of
section 1 of this Decree.
(4) Goodwill and other assets if
any not represented in tangible
form shall have nil value.
Section 3—Government to Facilitate
Transfer of Monies Paid for
Government Shares.
The Government shall employ its
good offices to ensure that the
moneys paid by it under section 2
of this Decree in respect of
shares acquired by it under this
Decree are transferred as soon as
practicable out of Ghana if the
persons to whom the moneys are
payable are not citizens of Ghana
and they request that the moneys
should be so transferred.
Section 4—Each Company to be in
Charge of the Management of that
Company.
The Board of each of the companies
mentioned in the Schedule to this
Decree shall have general control
of the management of each company.
[As substituted by Timber
Operations (Government
Participation) (Amendment) Decree,
1976 (SMCD 9), s. 1(b)]
Section 5—Transitional Arrangement
for Marketing of Trade Marked
Timber Products.
(1) Where before the commencement
of this Decree any of the
companies to which subsection (1)
of section 1 of this section
applies is the owner of any trade
mark in respect of any timber
product, that company shall, for a
period of five years from the
commencement of this Decree or as
the case may be from the
commencement of the application to
that company of subsection (1) of
section 1 of this Decree, be
entitled to export and market any
such timber product through its
own marketing agents subject to
the overall control and direction
of the Ghana Timber Marketing
Board.
(2) No new trade mark in respect
of any timber product shall be
acquired without the prior
approval of the Ghana Timber
Marketing Board.
Section 6—Employees of Companies
not to Suffer Diminution in
Conditions of Service.
All persons employed by each of
the said companies in Ghana in
respect of their operations in
Ghana shall enjoy terms and
conditions of service which are
not less favourable than those
applicable to them immediately
before the commencement of this
Decree or the application to the
company in question of subsection
(1) of section 1 of this Decree as
the case may be.
Section 7—Commissioner to take
Action to Implement Decree.
(1) The Commissioner responsible
for Lands shall take all such
measures as may appear to him
expedient for ensuring that this
Decree is given full effect.
(2) Without prejudice to the
generality of subsection (1), the
Commissioner may give such
directions as he may consider
necessary for giving full effect
to this Decree and it shall be the
duty of all persons to comply with
such directions.
(3) The Commissioner may also
under this section by writing,
request from any person any
information that he may consider
necessary for the purposes of this
Decree and it shall be the duty of
any person requested so to do to
produce such information within
the time, if any, prescribed by
the Commissioner.
Section 8—Offences.
(1) It shall be an offence for any
person—
(a) to obstruct directly or
indirectly the implementation of
the provisions of this Decree, or
(b) to fail to comply with any
direction or condition given or
imposed by the Commissioner under
section 7 or 9 of this Decree, or
(c) to fail to produce any
information requested from him by
the Commissioner under section 7
or 9 of this Decree or to produce
any information in response to
such request which he knows to be
false or which he has no reason to
believe to be true, or
(d) to destroy, falsify or
mutilate any records or books of
account relating to any matter
affected by this Decree.
(2) Any person guilty of an
offence under subsection (1) of
this section shall be liable to a
fine of not less than ¢15,000.00
or to a term of imprisonment not
exceeding seven years or to both,
and in the case of a continuing
offence to a further fine not
exceeding ¢1,000.00 in respect of
each day on which the offence
continues.
(3) Where an offence under this
section is committed by a body of
persons, then:—
(a) in the case of a body
corporate other than a
partnership, every Director,
Secretary or other officer of that
body shall also be guilty of that
offence, and
(b) in the case of a partnership,
every partner shall also be guilty
of that offence:
Provided that no person shall be
guilty of an offence by virtue of
this subsection if he proves that
the offence was committed without
his knowledge or consent and that
he took all steps necessary having
regard to all the circumstances,
to prevent the commission of the
offence.
Section 9—Companies to Institute
Training Schemes.
(1) Each of the said companies
shall institute training schemes
for Ghanaians which are designed
to equip them with all the skills
required for the operation and
management of those companies
within the shortest possible time.
(2) For the purposes of subsection
(1) of this section, the
Commissioner responsible for Lands
may request for any information
and impose any conditions which he
considers necessary and
reasonable, and it shall be the
duty of any person concerned to
comply with such request and
conditions.
Section 10—Interpretation.
In this Decree "minority
shareholder" means the persons who
were shareholders of each of the
companies to which subsection (1)
of section 1 of this Decree
applies immediately before the
commencement of this Decree or as
the case may be the date of
application of the said subsection
to that company.
Section 11—Commencement.
This Decree shall be deemed to
have come into force on the 1st
day of October, 1972.
SCHEDULE
1. the Gliksten (West Africa)
Limited,
2. the Takoradi Veneer and Lumber
Co. Limited (including the Timber
Division of R. T. Briscoe (Ghana)
Limited),
3. the African Timber and Plywood
(Ghana) Limited, and
4. the Mim Timber Company Limited.
[As Inserted by Timber Operations
(Government Participation)
(Amendment) Decree, 1976 (SMCD 9)]
Made this 28th day of December,
1972.
COLONEL I. K. ACHEAMPONG
Chairman of the National
Redemption Council
Date of Gazette Notification: 29th
December, 1972.
amended by
TIMBER OPERATIONS (GOVERNMENT
PARTICIPATION) (AMENDMENT) DECREE,
1976 (SMCD 9).1
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