Shares in our oil fields are not cigarettes for me to sell without due process – Freddie Blay tells critics

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Board Chairman has described calls for him to be sacked as unfortunate.

Freddie Blay argues Ghana’s interest in its oil fields are not packs of cigarette he can keep in his pockets and sell without due process.

Twenty-nine Civil society organisations have this week demanded his sacking after it emerged he had written to offer portions of Ghana’s oil fields to South African oil giant PetroSa.

Energy Minister Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh had taken a swipe at Mr Blay accusing him of not acting 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”.

But Mr Blay contends he has done no wrong

“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!

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.”

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