General News of Tuesday, 28 August 2018

Source: mynewsgh.com

$7.5m GNPC housing deal: My link with Global Haulage irrelevant- GNPC CEO

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) CEO,  Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) CEO, Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) who splashed an amount of seven million five hundred thousand dollars on the acquisition of a 6-unit residential flat from Global Haulage, his former company has said he did no wrong and calls for his head over his past relationship with Global Haulage Company have no basis.

The “deal” payment which was approved in a “hurry” and without value for money audit was ordered by the GNPC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who instructed the Chief Financial officer to pay the said invoiced amount to Global Haulage Company with “urgency”.

The GNPC CEO said in the letter ordering payment to be made that as Chief Executive Officer, “I take full responsibility for the transaction”, the letter dated 27th December 2017 with the subject “Purchase of residential properties in Takoradi”

But responding to the issues on Joy FM this morning, Mr K.K Sarpong has said he did no wrong.

"Well for whatever reason, I wouldn’t know, we bought their property, you executed all the documents, they’ve brought you an invoice for payment, your staff is not there [who is holding the document] and therefore you say they should not be paid.

If they took the money and they were injecting it into Royal Bank, so be it but there will be nothing wrong with it because they sold their property properly to us. And if they get the money and they inject into the Royal Bank to save it, what is wrong with it.

I resigned from the Royal Bank about two years ago, please where ever I worked I cannot do transactions with them. I worked in Cocoa Board they were in cocoa, you mean I don’t have to do transactions with them because I know them, I worked in food distribution and that is where I met the old man [Alhaji Adamu], does that mean that I don’t have to do transaction with them.

You see, with time, we build relationships and that should not affect our professional judgement and that’s me. My professional judgement wasn’t compromised.

I think that one you may have to talk to my officers who handle property, not chief executive, they refer, people go round, people make offers to us and from them will come to our table, and knowing that the property is there, does it prevent me from buying if I’m buying it at the correct price, I just want you to know.

And so if somebody is not connected and he has $10million which is not worth that, I should go and buy that?."