An Accra Fast Track Court trying the former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata for allegedly causing financial loss to the state on Tuesday took a two-week break.

This was after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr Osafo Sampong had informed the court that the next prosecution witness had travelled outside the country and would only available in two weeks. There was no objection from defence counsel and the trial judge, Mrs Henrietta Abban, consequently adjourned proceedings to Wednesday, November 27.

The prosecution has so far called three witnesses since the trial began last month. Witnesses

The first witness to be called was Mr Jim Wilson, Managing Director of Valley Farms Limited, with Mr Daniel Opoku Mensah, former Corporate Planning Manager of GNPC and Mrs Victoria Naa Adei Sackey, Senior Administrative Officer of GNPC in charge of Records, as second and third witnesses respectively.

Tsikata is charged with four counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the State, and intentionally misapplying public property. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and is on a self-recognisance bail in the sum of 700 million cedis. Tsikata is alleged to have caused the loss of more than 2.3 billion cedis to the State in a transaction in which he committed GNPC to guarantee a loan facility, granted to Valley Farms Limited by Caisse Francaise de Developpement, a French Development Aid Agency.

Due to financial constraints, Valley Farms defaulted in paying back the loan. As a result, the accused person allegedly circumvented laid down corporate regulations, when without the knowledge of the corporation's Board, he used the funds to pay the French company.