The Ghana Publishing Company Limited (GPCL) has debunked claims by its former Managing Director, David Asante, describing his recent social media comments as misleading, self-serving and aimed at distorting the company’s transformation narrative.
In a press release available to Metro TV on Thursday, January 15, 2026, GPCL said the former MD’s assertions were an attempt to undermine comments made by President John Dramani Mahama during a historic working visit to the company on January 8, 2026.
During the visit, the first by a sitting President under the Fourth Republic, President Mahama commended the current management for reviving the company’s image and operations.
“Ghana Publishing did not have a good brand previously; this was the place that when you were sending someone to, they felt like you were sending them to Siberia, and so the recent turnaround of the company must be commended,” President Mahama said.
However, Mr. Asante, who served as Managing Director from 2017, took to social media on January 14, claiming the turnaround credited by the president was largely his doing.
GPCL has rejected that claim, describing it as “unmeritorious and selfish, with the intent only to fuel his own self-aggrandizement.”
The company clarified that Mr. Asante inherited significant assets and financial stability from his predecessor, David Dzreke, who served as Managing Director from 2010 to 2017.
According to GPCL, Mr. Dzreke handed over “a fully functional offset printing setup, three Hyundai i10 vehicles, one Kia Sportage vehicle, a brand-new Coaster bus, and a brand-new Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle,” as well as substantial cash from the rental of a renovated building to Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG).
GPCL further alleged that despite this inheritance, Mr. Asante failed to acknowledge his predecessor’s contributions and instead projected himself as the sole architect of the company’s revival.
“He drove the brand-new Land Cruiser as if he bought it upon assumption of office and failed to even renew the insurance of the vehicle until he drove it to Tamale and crashed it,” the statement said.
Addressing claims about retooling, GPCL said the main equipment procured under Mr. Asante’s tenure was “an old 1993 version of the Heidelberg five-colour Speedmaster,” which has remained unusable despite costly repair attempts.
On ballot paper contracts, GPCL stated that the company had already secured and executed the printing of ballot papers for the 2016 elections under the Dzreke administration, with payments later received during Mr. Asante’s tenure.
The company also debunked claims about the Kumasi branch generating millions of cedis monthly, explaining that the branch is merely a sales outlet that processes Gazette applications for Accra.
“Its activities are such that it cannot be said to be capable of generating millions of Ghana cedis for the company on a monthly basis,” GPCL noted.
GPCL further refuted claims that Parliament had settled outstanding debts owed to the company, stating that “not a single pesewa has been paid to the current administration by Parliament since assuming office in February 2025.”
The statement also disclosed that the current management inherited significant financial liabilities, including a tax debt exceeding GH¢7 million, with over GH¢5 million in unpaid VAT.
“What is surprising to the current management is how the former MD… received five hundred thousand US dollars (US$500,000) in rent from CBG in December 2024, yet still managed to pay January salaries with an overdraft and left a bank balance of only four hundred thousand Ghana cedis,” GPCL said.
Defending recent expenditures, GPCL said the current management’s prudence made it possible to pay a 13th-month salary in December 2025, approve a 40 percent salary increase for 2026, acquire a Toyota Land Cruiser valued at about US$200,000, and establish a digital printing centre worth approximately US$350,000 within ten months.
The company also clarified that while staff previously worked extended hours during election periods, GPCL now operates a structured 24-hour shift system aligned with the government’s 24-hour economy policy, without overtime pressures.
