KK Sarpong: 5 Controversies That Rocked Outgoing GNPC CEO As He Retires This Week

• Dr Kofi Koduah Sarpong leaves GNPC this week as CEO after five years at Ghana's oil and gas exploration company
• Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah, said to be a relative of the president, takes over the top job from next week
• YEN.com.gh takes a look back at the allegations and criticisms against Dr Sarpong's five-year stay at GNPC

Dr Kofi Koduah Sarpong’s five-year tenure as chief executive officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) was a barrage of controversies.

From allegations of procurement breaches to questions about his retirement age, the outgoing GNPC boss constantly made headlines for numerous contentions.

When he lives office this week, his position will be taken over by Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah, who is said to be a relative of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

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YEN.com.gh presents brief reminders of five controversies that rocked Dr Sarpong during his five years as CEO of GNPC.

1. Auditor-General cites GNPC under KK Sarpong of breaches in procurement law

The Auditor-General’s report for 2020 cited GNPC under Dr Sarpong for breaching the Public Procurement Law in the award of contracts to the tune of $34 million.

According to the report made public last year, from 2015 to 2018, Dr Sarpong’s GNPC signed and awarded five international business contracts without recourse to Parliament, as required by the procurement law.

The GNPC boss, according to the report, used the Restricted Tendering method without seeking approvals from Parliament.

2. Dr Sarpong cited in botched $7.5m building deal

In January 2022, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) cited Dr Sarpong and the management of the GNPC for acquiring a dilapidated residential property at Chapel Hill, a suburb of Takoradi in the Western Region, for a whopping $7.5 million.

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Again there was a breach in the procurement process as PIAC reported that “there was non-compliance with the Procurement Laws of Ghana in that there was no public tender or bid”.

Dr Sarpong was singled out in that PIAC report for acting in breach of the laws governing Conflict of Interest.

3 Dr KK Sarpong sued over retirement age

In 2021, a journalist filed a suit at the high court challenging Dr Sarpong’s appointment in 2017 as GNPC CEO, claiming he had crossed the compulsory retirement age of 60 at the time of his appointment.

Larry Dogbey, Editor of the Herald newspaper, claimed Dr Sarpong was 63 when he was appointed and should have been on retirement per the law.

4 Dr Sarpong allegedly breached a fiduciary duty in the Aker-GNPC deal

Last year, Dr Sarpong came under intense fire over the Aker-GNPC deal.

He was accused by energy expert Kwadwo Poku of breaching his fiduciary obligation concerning the controversial energy deal.

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Mr Poku said Dr Sarpong presented expenditure and project costs higher than those quoted in the books of the publicly traded firms involved in the deal.

5 Dr Sarpong among beneficial owners of Jubilee Oil Holdings

In January this year, an energy think tank, African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) alleged that GNPC had a sinister plan to assign an interest in some of Ghana’s oil blocks to a company not owned by the Ghana government and registered in the Cayman Islands.

ACEP claimed that the company, Jubilee Oil Holdings, was registered to Dr Sarpong and Board Chairman of GNPC, Freddie Blay.

GNPC later came to deny the allegations, insisting that it applied the law to the letter in that transaction.

Unknown gunmen shot and killed wife of dollar-flaunting driver of GNPC boss in Kumasi

Unknown assailants shot dead the wife of the aide to the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Dr. KK Sarpong.

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Nana Prempeh’s wife, Benedicta Abena Pokua, was gunned down in the evening of Saturday, June 12, 2021, by unknown assailants.

She was driving at the forecourt of Joefel Restaurant at Dichemso, a suburb of Kumasi in a white Range Rover with a customized registration number ‘PREMPEH 1-21’, 3news.com reports.

Source: YEN.com.gh