GNPC saga: Only one person has been paid – Amaliba

A member of the Board of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Abraham Amaliba has revealed that only person out of the four has so far received his share of the controversial ex-gratia payment from the state-owned agency.

He, however, says ethics does not allow him to disclose the identity of the individual who has received his payment among the beneficiaries.

The GNPC confirmed in a statement Monday that it indeed paid former CEO Tsatsu Tsikata and three others ex-gratia, but failed to mention figures.

“The Board of Directors of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), has approved the payment of ex-gratia to four former employees of the Corporation, comprising of two former Chief Executives and two Managers.

“The four and the positions at which they exited GNPC are: Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata (Chief Executive); Nana Boakye Asafu-Adjaye (Ag. Chief Executive); Mr. Benjamin Dagadu (Field Evaluation and Development Manager); and Ms. Esther Cobbah (Public Affairs Manager),” the statement revealed.

The public has widely condemned the payment. One of the supposed beneficiaries, Esther Cobbah, in a statement revealed that she has not received any such payment.

Speaking to Nii Arday Clegg on the Morning Starr Wednesday, the legal practitioner rubbished claims that the individuals do not deserve the monies.

“There is a policy at GNPC, which specifies that when you are declared redundant or being separated from the organisation, you are paid this entitlement, and several employees of the company have benefited from it. And the calculation that was used to pay these individuals is the same calculation that has been used over the years for all employees.

He added: “... To the best of my knowledge, it’s just one person out of the four who has received his cheque, the others have not yet”.