GNPC Boss Employs Personal Driver Without Due Process – Group Alleges

A research fellow at the Strategic Energy Forum, Mr. Kojo Danquah has described the decision of the Chief Executive of Ghana National Petroleum Cooperation's (GNPC) Dr. K. K Sarpong to add the procurement function to his role as problematic.

According to him, Dr. K. K Sarpong employed a driver as a staff who doubles as driver and security without due procedure.

Speaking on Eyewitness, Kojo Danquah said the real issue was that he brought in someone entirely new, instead of sticking to the normal tradition of GNPC, where one person is picked from drivers of the transport department of the organisation.”

“The CEO is supposed to choose one of the drivers from the pool of drivers we have at the transport sector, within the organisation and in this case, K.K Sarpong didn't allow that process to go on but rather brought in someone from outside who is entirely new.”

“This is very problematic; the issue is that Dr. K.K Sarpong who is the CEO of GNPC as we speak has employed a driver with a staff described as a driver and security without going through the due processes, giving that person GHc8800. Which is more than what the chief driver who has worked for GNPC for the past 23years is paid,” he said.

He further called out the CEO and the whole organisation to come out to answer questions on how the said person was employed and give account to all the process the person went through to get the job.

A senior lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Dr. John Gatsi also fears the decision will undermine transparency at the institution and create a conflict of interest situation if implemented.

“It is unfortunate because that is not how the corporate governance arrangement is supposed to be. The CEO of the company is supposed to be the overall supervisor of activities within the company, but it should be placed directly under a procurement officer. So the moment you bring the procurement officer's role to add to your own, you limit the effectiveness of transparency, you limit accountability, and you introduce the possibility of a conflict of interest so I believe the process must be reversed immediately,” he said.

The Ghana National Petroleum Cooperation's (GNPC) Chief Executive, Dr. K. K Sarpong is currently under pressure to reverse a decision that seeks to bring the procurement function of the Corporation's Chief Finance Officer directly under him.

Source: Citinewsroom.com | Ghana