Freddie Blay, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah Wanted Sacked; 29 CSOs Demand

Some 29 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are demanding the immediate removal of the Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Freddie Blay and the acting Chief Executive Officer, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah.

The CSOs, made up of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) and 26 others, say the two men have “become a threat to Ghana’s interest in the petroleum sector”.

In a statement sighted by JoyNews and endorsed by representatives from all 29 CSOs, the Coalition argued that a country being micromanaged by the IMF cannot be seen to be engaging in fiscal recklessness.

The group is also demanding complete information on the AFC transaction and the actual amount that would constitute petroleum cost and the immediate closure of the Aker PoD from the Petroleum Commission and Government.”

Giving more details, the coalition said the recurring controversies surrounding Aker Energy and AGM operations in Ghana and the sale of 50% of Jubilee Oil Holding Limited’s interest in the Deepwater Tano block to PetroSA, are of great concern.

“In these difficult times, the nation needs prudent management of its resources to derive the fullest of benefits and bring relief to the suffering masses,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Energy Minister Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh is accusing the Board Chairman, Mr Blay of offering interest in Ghana’s oil fields to a South African oil company, Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA).

The GNPC Board Chairman is said to have written to PetroSA offering it an equal split in the interest held by GNPC’s subsidiary Jubilee Oil Holdings Ltd.

But Dr Prempeh insists this move is not in the interest of Ghana as the nation will lose revenue. He is therefore asking Mr Blay to withdraw the offer immediately.

“The Corporation should cease any further negotiations with PetroSA on matters of PetroSA’s intended pre-emption of the JOHL stakes.

“The stakes were acquired by the Government of Ghana with State funds. The Government of Ghana has informed the South African Government through their Minister responsible for Natural Resources and Energy in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the African Energy Week, 2022 in Cape Town that Ghana would not approve any pre-emption of the JOHL stakes”.