The minority spokesperson on Energy and Mines, K.T. Hammond, has accused the management of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) of making dubious payments to its former chief executive, Mr Tsatsu Tsikata.
Mr. Hammond described these payments as “sickening” and said these undeserved payments, running into millions of cedis, have also been paid to other previous and present staff of the state-owned oil corporation, one of whom is currently a minister of state.
Mr. Hammond initially made these allegations while contributing to the parliamentary debate on the 2016 budget statement.
[contextly_sidebar id=”bmYxGQDTgIVZB2z6emNQSlalagZGah3o”]Speaking to Citi News later on, Mr. Hammond revealed he was “informed that what the nation didn’t know, what parliament didn’t know is that these people have simply been given these funds. Number one on the list is this same Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, the onetime chief executive and the chairman of the board who saw to all this mess which literally collapsed GNPC” he continued.
He went on to question the thinking behind Mr. Tsikata receiving these benefits 15 years after his involvement with GNPC saying “he has not worked for the government of Ghana, let alone GNPC, for one second since 2000 so for what reason is Mr. Tsikata to be given such benefits?” “The last thing the nation expects is for him to be rewarded about 1 million cedis of the oil money 15 year after his tenure” he added.
Mr. Hammond noted, “this is a matter that goes beyond the remit of the parliamentary committee” and went on to call for a presidential probe into the alleged payments.
“That is what I have put before this country, that the president of the republic should immediately have investigations conducted. We want to know.”
“He has been paid. Government should investigate. What is the basis for the payments? Who authorized the payment?”
![Tsatsu Tsikata (right)](http://4cd.e16.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Tsatsu-Tsikata-citifmonline.jpg)
When asked to comment on the inaction from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) towards Mr. Tsikata when they were running the state, Mr. Hammond said, “you allow sleeping dogs lie. That is not the nature of our administration. There are things that people do and you think, what is the point?”
He continued, saying, “under normal circumstances, that should have been the case. Nobody saw the need for that.”
Last week the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) was directed by the government to investigate K.T. Hammond over circumstances surrounding the sale of Ghana’s drill ship.
Mr. Hammond is expected to explain to EOCO how he disbursed the $900,000 which was left after the sale of the drill ship belonging to GNPC.
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline/Ghana