I will not return to public office - Tsatsu Tsikata

Former Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) boss Tsatsu Tsikata has ruled out a return to public office following his acquittal and discharge by a Court of Appeal of causing financial loses to the state.

In 2008, Mr Tsikata was convicted by an Accra Fast Track High Court by the Kufuor administration for causing financial loss to the state to the tune of GHS230,000.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Class News’ Atiewin Mbillah-Lawson on the sidelines of a press conference he organised in Accra on Thursday 1 December, Mr Tsikata said he bore no grudge with those who prosecuted him.

He advised that constitutional rights are for all and so Ghanaians should be interested in upholding their rights.

“Constitutional rights that are there for all of us have to be enforced and respected by the institutions of state including the judiciary. And the fact that in this particular case it is my rights that are in question should not make us forget that a constitutional right is not a right just for Tsatsu Tsikata, it’s a right for all of us and we should all be interested in the enforcement and upholding of the constitution of Ghana,” he stated.

He noted that the judgment by the Court of Appeal came as no surprise to him. “I was expecting yesterday’s ruling. Ever since we filed the appeal I was expecting that the right thing would be done, and that is why as I mentioned, Psalm 94:15 has been a verse on my heart. ‘Justice will again be found in the court’, that is a verse I’ve held unto for many years, so I was expecting that there would be justice in the end,” he added.

Talking about a possible return to public service, Mr Tsikata noted: “I believe that I have done a significant number of years of my life in public service both as a university lecturer and in GNPC, and I do not intend to go back into public office.

I believe that in my role in the private sector currently, I’m still able to contribute significantly to the advancement of our country. I have no plans at all to be back in public service. I think there are younger people who have more energy and whose time is now to be in public service.

“As I said, I bare no grudge whatsoever against anybody in respect of anything that I’ve experienced, and I’m completely open to interaction of any sort with anybody. …Maybe some meant it for evil against me, but I believe God meant it for good and my experience even through prison and so on does not make me bitter; it rather makes me feel strengthened spiritually and for that reason I cannot bear any grudge,” Mr Tsikata explained,” he said.