Akufo-Addo Readies Another Family and Friend To Take Over GNPC

As the clock ticks down for the tenure of the current CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Dr. K.K. Sarpong, it has emerged that President Akufo-Addo is readying to make another of his numerous family members take over the state-owned oil corporation.

According to sources, the president has penciled his nephew, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah Jnr, to become the next CEO of the GNPC.

Opoku Ahwene is also a direct cousin to Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo, who is said to be the point man in getting his nephew in that juicy position at GNPC.

Many have observed that another Akufo-Addo family member being elevated to control another strategic state asset like the GNPC only speaks to a state capture that the President and his family and close friends – notoriously called the “Akyem Mafia” – are seen to be actively perpetrating.

This is because already President Akufo-Addo has his family members at the helm of key government Ministries and state institutions, including the army, the Ministry of Finance and roads among others.

Mr. Opoku Ahwenie Jnr. Is one of three deputy CEOs at the GNPC- he is the Deputy CEO responsible for Technical Operations.

He is a product of The Fletcher University (Turfs University), Middle College and Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School in Accra.

The President’s nephew joined GNPC only two years ago in 2020 and appears to have been brought there to succeed Dr. K.K. Sarpong who was already having his tumultuous tenure in its final days.

Meanwhile, the other two deputy CEOs are Mr. Benjamin Kwaku Acolatse, who is the Deputy in charge of Finance and Administration, and Mr. Joseph Dadzie, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer with responsibility for Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Gas Business, New Business & Investments.

Mr. Acolatse is a graduate of the University of London, Ghana School of Law and Kwame University of Science and Technology, is a lawyer, Chartered Accountant & Computer & System Analyst, while Mr. Dadzie has about 30 years of wide and varied industry experience in Oil & Gas, Telecommunications, Finance and Banking.