Full-fledged investigations by GhanaWeb have found evidence that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s (GNPC) board in 2018 made large payments to some government and private firms in the country for no work done.
The biggest beneficiaries of the suspicious payments, GhanaWeb gathered, included the Rebecca Foundation – a charity organisation founded by the First Lady, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, among others.
In an internal memo written by the Board Secretary, Matilda Ohene and addressed to the Chief Executive of GNPC, Dr. K.K. Sarpong, with the caption “Approval for payment of various sponsorship/support requests”, the First Lady’s outfit received a whopping GHC750,000 from the coffers of GNPC as part of the foundation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The office of the president, which produces the presidential diaries of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, which has often served as a propaganda piece to trumpet the achievements of the regime, also benefitted immensely from GNPC’s largesse.
The wheels of the propaganda outfit were greased by the sum of USD20,000.00 (GHC1.7 billion Old Cedis) with the current exchange rate.
The GNPC under the auspices of Freddie Blay, the incumbent NPP’s chairman, at the 8th Board Meeting held on October 24, 2018, approved the recommendations of the brands which had the support of GNPC’s communication and CSR committee.
Other institutions such as the Physically Challenged Foundation (GHC45K); National Council for Civic Education (GHC300K); Executive Programme for Ambassadors (SGD35K); Financial Times Ltd (GBP55K); the Eastern Nzema Traditional Area Atuabo Kundum Festival (50K Cedis) and the Nsein Traditional Council (20K Cedis) also benefitted from the GNPC largess.
The GNPC Board of Directors at its meetings held on December 23, 2019, and January 13, 2020, allocated to the Ghana Boxing Association and Ghana Journalists Association GHC30K and GHC50K respectively.
In that same year, the Office of the Okyenhene received (GHC1.8million), for tree planting and 20th-anniversary celebration of the Okyenhene respectively; Dagbon Traditional Council (GHC400K), for the rehabilitation of Gbewaa Palace; Economic and Organised Crime Office (GHC1million), to support its operations; and Ministry of Tourism (GHC150K), to host UNWTO/Africa Regional Congress of Women in Tourism Conference.
“You are advised to complete the necessary documentation for payment of the approved donations to the respective beneficiaries,” the memo instructed.
According to the memo, GNPC’s approval was for the payments of the various sponsorship and support requests the companies presented to the Board.
So, the lingering question is what business did the Financial Times Ltd do for the GNPC to warrant a whopping sum of GBP55,000.00, that is GHC379,257.89?
What programme will warrant the GNPC to support the Executive Programme for Ambassadors or what role did these ambassadors play or what work did they do for GNPC to be allocated SGD35,000.00?
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
