Freddie Blay In Trouble Over Management of GNPC: Energy Minister Slams Him, 29 CSOs Demand His Removal

• Energy minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has criticised GNPC Board Chairman Freddie Blay for striking a deal for a Ghanaian oil field with PetroSA
• The energy minister said that the deal in its current state will not serve the revenue interest of Ghana
• Also, some 29 CSOs are calling for the removal of Blay and CEO of GNPC Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah over allegations of fiscal recklessness

Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Freddie Blay is facing fierce criticising over alleged mismanagement of the state-owned petroleum company.

On the one hand energy minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has called him out over an oil field deal he struck with a South African oil company, Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA).

Freddie Blay, a former national chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is alleged to have offered PetroSA an equal split in the interest of an oil field held by GNPC’s subsidiary Jubilee Oil Holdings Ltd (JOHL).

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The energy minister is convinced that GNPC's deal with PetroSA will not benefit Ghana. The minister wants the GNPC Board Chairman to withdraw the deal immediately.

“The Corporation should cease any further negotiations with PetroSA on matters of PetroSA’s intended pre-emption of the JOHL stakes,' a Joy News report quotes the minister.

29 CSOs demand Freddie Blay's removal as GNPC Board Chair

In a separate development, at least 29 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are also calling for the removal of the influential NPP stalwart.

The CSOs also want the acting Chief Executive Officer, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah, sacked over allegations of mismanagement at GNPC.

The CSOs said in a statement that both Blay and Danquah have “become a threat to Ghana’s interest in the petroleum sector”.

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"We firmly believe that a country micromanaged by the IMF cannot be seen to engage in fiscal recklessness that undermines its recovery," the CSOs said in a statment.

The CSOs include COPEC, ACEP, ISODEC, WACAM among others.

Freddie Blay represents 3 alleged Chinese illegal miners in case

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported in a separate story that the immediate past National Chairman of the governing NPP and lawyer, Freddie Blay, was part of the defence team in the Aisha Huang trial.

Mr Blay's law chamber defended the three other Chinese nationals suspected to be accomplices of Aisha Huang, a woman famed for her notoriety in illegal mining in Ghana.

The four who are standing trial for illegal mining offences were denied bail again when the case was called on October 11, 2022.

Source: YEN.com.gh