Ghana Gas Union Chairman Blows Multi-Millions On Grand Mansion

-Amidst Allegations of Procurement Fraud & Fake Invoices

The Head of Engineering and Maintenance at the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), Richard Alamu is raising eyebrows at the company following reports that he has put up a massive castle-like mansion at Awieso, a suburb of Atuabo in the Western region.

The mansion comprises two massive buildings- one with up to 12 rooms, was reportedly built in a record two years, between 2019 and 2020. 

Mr. Alamu has been working at Ghana Gas since 2012 but has raised questions among staff of the company, how he could accumulate such wealth to put up the gigantic structures within the timeframe.

Whatsup News has seen pictures of the said mansion in all its glittering grandeur. It is located at Awieso, a suburb of Takoradi and some staff within the GNGC are livid because he has been linked to some dubious procurement dealings at the company, with some GHC 1.8 of procurement specifically in his department reportedly unaccounted for.

Whatsup News has in its possession a copy of the GNGC’s Budget Control Report up to March 2021, and the document shows that as of March 2021, the Engineering and Maintenance department that Mr. Alamu heads had expended some GHC 5.7 million, maintenance, equipment, training, among others.

However, reliable sources tell Whatsup News that when the said expenditures were checked with suppliers, some of them appeared fake, invoices mysteriously overinflated, or official procurement processes were simply circumvented.

The sources estimate that a summation from the 2021 expenditure by the department alone as of March 2021 reveals an unaccounted bill of some GHC 1.8 million. 

Insiders are saying Alamu was not working alone, and that he may have had the backing of some top management staff of the company.

Whatsup News had earlier contacted Mr. Owusu Bempah, the Director of Communications of GNGC via telephone to verify these specific allegations, but he had refused to answer and had suggested that Whatsup News forwards an official questionnaire to him.

But there is yet to be a response from the GNGC. In fact, Mr. Owusu Bempah had angrily exploded that the company will not indulge Whatsup News with a response because the publication had published a story about the untimely death of GNGC’s Director of Finance Emmanuel Essel who had hinted that the corruption at GNCG was unbearable for him and was in the process of resigning.

Indeed, he had reportedly informed GNCG’s management about his exit plan. Unfortunately, Mr. Essel mysteriously died earlier this week.

Whatsup News had therefore published the unfortunate death on Tuesday, June 16, 2021, and had described the coincidence as “mysterious”, particularly given the vital revelations that Emmanuel Essel was willing to disclose. 

In an uncontrolled and rabid rant, Ernest Owusu Bempah had threatened to use the National Security Agency to gag Whatsup News from exposing the reported maladministration at Ghana Gas. 

 “I have forwarded your story to the National Security…so watch out,” the raving Owusu Bempah threatened Whatsup News in what only reaffirms the brutal clampdown of the Akufo Addo administration on free press and the “culture of silence” designed to muzzle independent-minded media organisations exposing rot in the society.

Meanwhile, Whatsup News has also spoken to Richard Alamu, who, together with some of his superiors, have been cited in the raging allegations of shady activities at Ghana Gas.

Initially, he had been cooperative but had suddenly stonewalled the Whatsup News, saying the National Security had been detached to protect him because some unknown individuals had threatened to eliminate him if he divulged any more information.

Meanwhile, the raging Owusu Bempah who describes himself as a “He-Goat”, on Wednesday, June 16, issued the threats at Whatsup News and claiming he knew the whistleblowers feeding information to the media, vowing to go after them.