Freddie Blay, the Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Board, has responded to calls for his dismissal, considering them unfortunate.
In defense, he argues that Ghana’s oil fields cannot be treated as commodities he can casually sell without following proper procedures.
Recently, twenty-nine civil society organizations demanded his removal after it was revealed that he had written a letter offering portions of Ghana’s oil fields to South African oil giant PetroSa.
The Energy Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, criticized Mr. Blay, accusing him of acting against Ghana’s interests, as such actions would result in a loss of revenue for the nation. The Minister is urging Mr. Blay to immediately retract the offer made to PetroSa.
But Mr Blay argues that he has done no wrong.
According to him, “Ghana is a country of law, and there are laws and procedures governing the sale and transfer of shares, under Ghana’s Companies Act 2019 (Act 992), even for private companies.
“I encourage all my accusers, and the public to Google “what is the procedure for share transfers in Ghana”, educate themselves, and draw their own conclusions on the veracity or duplicity of the allegations.
“Shares of a company are not a pack of cigarettes to anyone, and for that matter, the Chairman of GNPC can keep them in his or her pocket and vend by the street!”
He contends that the allegations surrounding the supposed “surreptitious,” “clandestine,” and “scandalous” sale of so-called GNPC shares are unequivocally false.
“There is no intention by GNPC or me as its Chairman, to divest 7% shareholding in JOHL nor has there been any claim by PetroSA to acquire shareholding interests in JOHL.
“Such claims can only stem from an uninformed and malevolent mind.”
