President has not appointed Osei Prempeh CEO of GOIL – Eugene Arhin

The Office of the President has lambasted the board chairman of Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) for criticizing the president based on false media report on the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer of GOIL.

Many stakeholder groups and energy experts descended on President Akufo-Addo when reports emerged that he has replaced the company’s CEO Patrick Akorli with Osei Prempeh.

The board chairman Prof. William Asumaning joined in flaying the president with statement, indicating that the board cannot recognize the appointment of Mr. Prempeh because it did not follow due process.

But a strongly-worded statement by the Acting Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, rather accused Prof. Asumaning of going to town with the report without acting “in the interest of best practices”.

He was categorical that the president has not made any such appointment.

“The statement by the Board Chair was unfortunate and completely needless, to say the least.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state that the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has not appointed a new CEO of GOIL, and when he decides to do so, it will be done in accordance with laid down procedures.”

Below is the full statement of Eugene Arhin

RE: STATEMENT BY GOIL BOARD ON APPOINTMENT OF A NEW CEO

The Office of the President has taken notice of a statement issued by Prof. William Asumaning, the Board Chairman of Goil, on Saturday, February 25, 2017, in relation to the purported appointment of a “new” Chief Executive Officer of the Company by the President of the Republic.

The statement by the Board Chairman references a Ghanaweb publication of 24thFebruary, 2017 titled “Nana Addo Picks New Heads for Forestry Commission, Ghana Health Service and GOIL”.

It is on the basis of this story that Prof. William Asumaning put out his statement.

One would have hoped, in the interest of best practices, that the issuance of such a statement by Prof. William Asumaning would have been hinged on concrete evidence, in the form of appointment letters, and not mere speculation and conjecture by an online publication.

The statement by the Board Chair was unfortunate and completely needless, to say the least.

For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state that the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has not appointed a new CEO of GOIL, and when he decides to do so, it will be done in accordance with laid down procedures.

……signed……

Eugene Arhin Ag. Director of Communications