Drillship saga: Tsatsu faces Judgment Debt C’ssion today

Former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata is appearing before the judgment debt commission today over the sale of a drillship in 2001.

GNPC incurred huge debts as a result of an oil hedging transaction with French Bank Societe General during Tsikata’s tenure as CEO.

His appearance before the Commission comes a day after former Energy Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah and his Deputy K.T. Hammond took turn to explain their side of events to the Commission on Monday.

Kan-Dapaah told the commission that all decisions taken in connection with the sale of a drillship in 2001 were right.
“I am convinced, as I sit here that there was not one single wrong decision that was made in the whole exercise; not by anyone and I stand by that”, Kan-Dapaah insisted to Sole Commissioner Justice Apau.
He said all decisions taken in the transaction were based on the advice of the Attorney General and Justice Minister at the time, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
When pressed further by Justice Apau as to whether he thought the former AG – who gave the power of Attorney for the sale of the drillship – should be held accountable for any wrongs that may be detected in connection with the transaction, Kan-Dapaah said: “I am not saying that; I’m saying that I’m the wrong person to ask. If in your opinion, it is then the AG who should be asked, so be it”.
The Discoverer 511 was sold in 2001 for US$24Million.
US$19.5Million of the proceeds were used to defray a judgment debt awarded Societe Generale against the GNPC.
Kan-Dapaah explained to the Commission that US$900,000 of the total proceeds were deposited into an escrow account to pay some suppliers and creditors of the GNPC while another US$100,000 was used to pay legal fees to some Lawyers.
US$3.5Million of the proceeds have still not been accounted for.
The former Energy Minister however explained that, the alleged missing money was paid into an account of the Government of Ghana at the Ghana International Bank in London.
He said he was not privy to whatever happened to the money after it was lodged into the account on the orders of the Acting High Commissioner to the UK at the time, Chris Kpodo.

K. T Hammond also was in good company with his former boss.
According to him, the “sale was transparently done, scrupulously done and there was nothing wrong that happened”.

He said media reports about the US$3.5Million are forcing his frail mother into the grave.